Shadows, Whispers and Destruction
by Vampiyaa
Summary: Sarah has left the world of fantasy and magic behind. But when Hoggle comes through her mirror after two years, Sarah goes back to the Underground to discover tragedies have befallen the Labyrinth, and that Jareth has gone insane. Her only choice: marry him and become his Queen. Can Sarah learn to love him, even when his temper threatens her and her new friend Jace? Jar/Sar
1. Bday Candles, Wells and Shooting Stars

Chapter 1

Birthday Candles, Wells and Shooting Stars

Sarah landed with a thump onto the enormous, soft bed. She had no idea how or why, but she was back in the Labyrinth, in the castle— to be more precise, in Jareth's bedroom. And Jareth himself happened to be standing at the foot of the bed, his mismatched eyes set, focused solely on her.

Sarah sat up and glared at the Goblin King. "Why have you brought me back here? I defeated you!"

"And yet, here we are," said Jareth airily, gesturing around the room with a sweep of his gloved hand.

"Why?" Sarah whispered. "I-I defeated you, I was home, and Toby was safe… and… and I said the words! You have no _power_ over me!" she added with a desperate tone.

"We'll see about that, precious," Jareth growled, and he waved his hand yet again. Sarah's blouse and jeans immediately vanished, leaving her in nothing but undergarments.

"Wha—?" Sarah began to cry.

With a swift motion he lunged at her, pinning her down onto the bed and straddled her waist with his strong thighs. Sarah's cry of alarm was muffled when Jareth's lips captured her own, forcing her mouth open. Sarah immediately surrendered when Jareth's tongue slipped into her mouth, caressing her own tongue with velvety softness. Feeling her yield, Jareth's hands travelled off her wrists, giving her an opportunity to slide her fingers into his mane of yellow hair, trying to push him closer to her. Jareth's own hands slithered onto her back, and his hands fisted around the straps of her bra, and with a hard tug he ripped it open to expose both of her shapely breasts. Jareth idly tossed it into the corner and cupped his hands over her breasts, kneading them expertly.

Sarah began to work at tugging off Jareth's poet shirt, sliding her hands up his chiselled chest as she did so. With an uncaring wave of his hand, Jareth's clothes vanished. His hand then slithered down her body, causing her stomach to jerk, and his hand kept travelling down until it slid over the thin silk fabric of her panties. His fingers pressed against the fabric where the bundle of nerves was, and Sarah groaned with pleasure as his talented fingers began moving in delicious circles. Soon Jareth felt the fabric of her panties grow wet underneath the tips of his fingers, and he then decided it was time to make the offending fabric vanish. Sarah cried out when she felt his fingers slide between her folds, and as one finger entered her, a searing heat began to grow in her abdomen.

"Jareth, please…" Sarah whimpered, before letting out a cry as the finger within her bent, hitting that sweet spot that she harboured deep inside.

"Yes precious?" Jareth purred into her ear, the warmth of his breath rolling down her neck and causing her to shiver. "What is it you want?"

"I—I want—" Sarah tried to say, but the shocks of pleasure Jareth was granting her from below was making it difficult to form coherent speech. "… you."

* * *

And then Sarah was shaken awake. She sat up in alarm and her forehead collided with the person who'd woken her, who cried out in pain.

"Jeez, _relax_," groaned out the deep voice of her college roommate, Jared. Sarah rubbed her forehead and opened her eyes a crack, to see Jared glaring at her through the dark.

"Ah, sorry Jared," Sarah apologized quickly.

Two years ago, when Sarah was sixteen, she'd made her way through an enormous, magical labyrinth and defeated a Goblin King. And when she'd returned home safely, she'd given up everything in her old life. She'd thrown out all of her old stuffies and toys and posters. Straight after, she'd burnt her copy of _the Labyrinth_, along with all her other fantasy books. Not once had she called upon Hoggle, Ludo or Didymus. She'd also 'accidentally' broken her vanity mirror, thus ensuring no unwelcome visitors from the Underground, and also avoided looking in any mirrors no matter where she was just in case. Sarah nowadays avoided movies and books of fantasy, especially the ones with castles and kings and magic.

And Sarah made sure to never, ever, _ever_ make a wish. Not when a shooting star skimmed the surface of the Earth's atmosphere, not when a wishing well was nearby and she happened to have a coin on her, not when the candles of her anniversary cake were lit. Because she knew, better than most, the power of a wish.

When her dream college had accepted Sarah and she'd luckily obtained the last available room in the apartment building nearest to it, she nearly had a heart attack when she'd found out she'd have no choice but to share her apartment with a boy. Not to mention a boy with a name uncannily similar to "that man's" name. But Jared was nothing like Jareth, in any way. Jared wasn't as tall as Jareth, and his hair was short and brown. His eyes were not mismatched; both of them were a pleasant blue colour and didn't hold the menacing, malicious glare that Jareth's had held. Jared did not have the (unfortunately) appealing accent, and he had a fun personality. Other than Jared's name, there were no similar qualities between the college student and the Goblin King. And so Sarah and Jared had lived together happily for two years.

"That must have been some dream you were having," Jared exclaimed, smiling at her with a kind of serenity that Jareth could have never mastered. Sarah blushed faintly pink and was immediately grateful for the early morning darkness that hung around the two of them. Her dream had certainly been 'something'… Because for two years, despite all of her efforts to distance herself from the memories of the Underground, Jareth always managed to slip into her dreams, and as she grew older the dreams grew more and more erotic.

"You bet," Sarah mumbled. "Sorry if I woke you up again… go back to sleep."

Jared gave her a big grin and simpered, "Aw, are you sure you don't want me to cuddle with you so you won't have any more bad dreams?"

"Only in your dreams," Sarah grinned, watching him flounce back to his bed in his maroon pyjamas. "Goodnight, Jared."

"Goodnight."

Sarah rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. The events of the dream flooded back into her mind… in this dream, she'd noticed, Jareth had been even more passionate for her than the other dreams… and once again, like all the other dreams, she'd surrendered to him and allowed him to touch her, even though she in reality was a virgin and wasn't planning on dating anybody anytime soon…

Sarah's face immediately grew hot with shame when she felt a rush between her legs. Even awake, she knew that, if the real Goblin King were like the one in her dreams, she'd probably hopelessly surrender herself to him anyway.

* * *

The final exams for the year ended that afternoon, much to Sarah's relief. When she exited the classroom, however, Jared was not waiting for her in his usual spot. Sarah glanced around, wondering if he was hiding, but she saw no sand-coloured-hair-topped head poking out from behind a corner, so she shrugged off her confusion and started toward the doors, binders and study papers clutched in arms. Sarah slid the binders and papers into her bag and stepped out of the school, starting toward the direction of her apartment. The streets of the city were particularly busy this time of day, with lots of traffic and people walking home from work or to the market. Sarah dug around in her purse for her keys as she approached the pristine building that was her apartment. Sarah pushed open the door to the apartment and immediately screamed when the four familiar faces of her family and roommate screeched, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH!"

The bag tumbled onto the ground and the binders and papers spilled out of it as Sarah clutched at her heart, eyes wide and heart pounding, at which Jared burst out laughing. Another thing Sarah had worked to avoid was her family, who she hadn't seen or spoken to since last year. The sight of her stepmother made her think of all the arguments they had when Sarah was running around, warbling out those _Labyrinth _scenes. The sight of Toby made her think of _everything_.

"Hi Sarah!" Toby giggled, waddling over to her to throw his tiny arms around one of her legs. In Toby's other hand was an enormous helium balloon, on which Toby had probably coloured with markers due to the smudgy ink smeared across the balloon's surface (and the fact that the palms and bottoms of his fingers were stained with mixtures red and blue and orange).

"Happy birthday, sweetheart," said her father Robert happily (who was clearly holding something behind his back and wasn't doing much to cover it up) and her stepmother Irene hurried over as fast as her tight skirt would allow to give Sarah a huge hug.

"You're eighteen now; a fully-grown woman!" Irene gushed, wiping her eyes. "It feels like only yesterday you were running around the park in those homemade dresses."

"_Irene_!" Sarah groaned.

"You played dress-up?" said Jared amusedly, before earning a glare from Sarah.

"How did you guys even get in here?" Sarah asked confusedly, sparing everyone a glance.

"Jared let us in," Robert said, causing Jared to earn another glare.

"Did you even go to the exams?" Sarah asked confusedly.

Jared shrugged and grinned. "Somebody had to stay here and open the door for your family."

"Jared, missing the finals is an automatic failure!"

"Relax, Sarah, I went. Now shut up and enjoy your birthday party."

Robert immediately revealed the box was hidden behind his back, and Toby proudly took it (almost dropped it) and handed it to Sarah. She opened it, knowing full well what it was— a homemade chocolate cake with the words 'happy birthday Sarah' written in messy blue icing; clearly Toby's work since the 'S' was backward and the word 'happy' only had one 'p'.

"Thank you," said Sarah tonelessly, and Irene excitedly stuck a birthday candle into the centre and Jared lit it with his lighter.

"Make a wish," Jared said sarcastically, because he knew exactly how Sarah felt about wishes. Sarah kept her mind blank and immediately blew the candle. The family clapped and cheered, and Jared leaned on her and laughed, "What did you wish for?"

"Nothing," replied Sarah bluntly, staring blankly at the cake.

The party ended pretty much the way Sarah had expected it to end— Jared gulped down most of the cake, Irene and Robert pestered Sarah about school and other unimportant, uninteresting things and Toby's balloon popped, startling him and causing him to cry loudly until the group left. Just before Irene carried the wailing Toby out of the room she said to Sarah with a smile, "Come by the house tomorrow afternoon. We'd love for you to visit— you're all Toby talks about."

"Are you going to go?" Jared asked, once Sarah had closed the door.

"I don't know," she said tiredly, flopping onto her bed with a groan. "Truthfully, I don't want to. I also don't want them to _know_ that."

She rolled over onto her stomach and hugged her pillow for comfort. "It hurts to say that, but it's the truth."

"Ugh, don't give me that crap, Sarah," Jared sighed. "Sometimes, the truth hurts like hell."

Sarah's brows knitted together and she stared hard and Jared, muttering, "Why does that sound so familiar…?"

"I have an idea," Jared said thoughtfully, ignoring her question. "Suck it up and go anyway. I really don't see why you hate those guys so much— Toby especially, he's the cutest thing in the world."

"I don't hate him," Sarah mumbled into the sheets. "He just… reminds me of a lot of stuff I want to forget."

"And that's another thing," Jared exclaimed, leaning back and crossing his arms accusingly. "What the heck happened all those years ago that was so awful?"

"I can't tell you that," Sarah said briskly. "I'm trying to forget it."

_Don't tell me truth hurts, little girl… 'cause it hurts like hell…_

"Oh that's why it sounds familiar," Sarah said, cursing. "Damn it Jared!"

"Ah Jesus," said Jared exasperatedly, and a little irritably. "At least give me a hint."

"It's something so terrible it causes me to avoid my family, burn my favourite book, not call three of my old friends back for two years, break a mirror and evade everything that involves magic and kings," Sarah said briskly, before bouncing off the bed toward the door. "Let's go get Subway for supper."

"It made you break a mirror? How the heck is that relevant?"

"Say one more word and you're paying."

"But I hate Subway; let's go somewhere that serves _meat_—"

"I'm a vegetarian, and dinner's now officially on you."

* * *

Sarah stood at the edge of a lake, dressed in one of her old homemade gowns; except the gown was now clean and snow-white and silky. Confused, Sarah pinched the fabric of the gown and lifted it, wondering why she was in a dress. And come to think of it… where was she? Sarah looked around curiously. She was clearly on the banks of a lake she did not recognize, and behind her was a vast expanse of rolling, green hills. Sarah gasped when she spotted him walking toward her on one of those hills, and blushed at the small smile that graced his thin lips. He reached her side, and stroked one of her reddened cheeks with the back of his gloved hand.

"Welcome, precious," he purred, the luscious tone in his voice causing a shudder to erect down her spine.

"Where are we?" Sarah asked confusedly. "And… why the dress?"

"Why not?" Jareth answered simply, his hand travelling from her cheek down her arm to slide into her palm. "It becomes you."

Sarah flushed pink again, at which Jareth's smile widened.

"Where are we?" Sarah repeated, avoiding his dancing gaze to instead stare embarrassedly at the ground. Jareth's other hand raised and with one finger he lifted her chin gently, so that their gazes met again and held.

"For that answer, there is a price," he crooned, and Sarah cocked her head to the side curiously.

"What can I give you that you don't already have?" she said, and then Jareth leaned in closer until their foreheads were pressed together, and their lips were just millimetres apart.

"One kiss," he murmured, and when he spoke Sarah felt his breath ghosting across her lips. Sarah obediently stood on tiptoe and granted him a light kiss, the contact no more than a whisper, and just teasing enough to get her answer… and to make Jareth look hot and bothered.

"Tell me now, Goblin King," Sarah smiled, her lips brushing his as she spoke. "What is this place?"

"It is _our _place," whispered Jareth, before he gathered her up in his arms and kissed her like a starving man.

* * *

Sarah was woken late that morning by a sharp cry and a banging noise. She bolted upright to see Jared sprawled across the floor, already clothed in his day clothes. She giggled and said, "What the heck are you doing on the floor?"

"Tripped," Jared grumbled, getting up and dusting himself off.

"Over what, yourself?"

"Very funny, but I actually tripped over your alarm clock wire. Sorry to wake you up; I know you wanted to sleep in today."

Sarah sighed at Jared's final comment and shoved off the covers, glancing at the alarm clock. It was nearly noon. "Actually, I think you did me a pretty big favour."

_You saved me from letting Jareth touch more than my lips, _Sarah ended her sentence in her mind.

"You're going to your parents' house, I'm guessing?" Jared asked, straightening his shirt.

"I suppose I have to," Sarah said bitterly, getting up. Her foot immediately caught on her alarm clock wire as Jared's had and she immediately tumbled forward. Jared reflexively threw out his arms and caught her, but they both fell back onto the bed and for the second time in two days collided foreheads.

"Ow," Jared said with a laugh. "Who's tripping over themselves now?"

"Not me," Sarah answered, before she lifted her head and the tips of their noses touched. She and Jared immediately locked shocked gazes, their faces only centimetres apart. Sarah could feel the wisps of his breath caressing over his lips, and she was painfully reminded of the sensations in her dream. To avoid a replaying of that dream, Sarah backed away and grinned at him, at which he blinked confusedly.

"You aren't perhaps the Goblin King in disguise?" she asked with a mischievous smile.

Jared shook his head to clear his mind, but it apparently didn't do much because he blinked up at her again and mumbled stupidly, "Wh…wh-what?"

Sarah giggled and said happily, "That's my genuine Jared."

"Well, I don't know what that means," Jared said, regaining his cool and helping her up. "But I'm glad I was called 'genuine'."

"Move your butt, I'm gonna get changed," Sarah said briskly, and he obediently slid out of the way so she could get to her dresser. Once she gathered up her clothes and slipped into the bathroom, her smile vanished and she hugged her bundle of clothes for comfort, praying to God that Jared didn't like her more than a friend. Sarah jumped when she heard a sharp knock on the bathroom door.

"Are you dead in there?" Jared laughed on the other side of the door.

"Yes," Sarah replied briskly, throwing on her clothes in record time and flouncing out of the bathroom. "I'll probably be back after dinner to haunt you. See you at 8:00."

"Have fun," Jared said, still snickering, and Sarah stuck her tongue out at him before grabbing her bag and exiting the apartment building. She whipped out her cell phone and called a cab, cringing when she realized this trip would probably cost her a fortune, since driving there would take at least an hour and a half (and walking there would take all day).

The cab pulled over and Sarah clambered in, shoving her phone back into her purse.

"Where to, young lady?" asked the cabbie.

"Mind driving me into the country?" Sarah asked, and just as she'd expected the cabbie groaned.

"That's so far though!" he whined, but Sarah tossing four twenties into the passengers seat made him snap to attention and say, "Will do, young lady."

Sarah settled down in her seat and glanced back at the apartment, where she spotted Jared watching her leave through the window. She gave a quick wave to him before the cab took off down the road.

* * *

Sarah sighed, both with relief and with annoyance, as the cab finally pulled up into the driveway of her old home. The drive had taken not an hour and a half, but a full four hours due to traffic and an accident on the highway. Now it was nearly 4:30 pm.

"Thanks for taking me so far," Sarah said with a smile, sliding out and slipping him a five as a tip. The moment the cab sped off the door flew open and Irene's beaming figure stepped onto the porch.

"SARAAAAAAAAAAH!" screeched an underdeveloped voice, and Toby immediately zoomed in between his mother's legs and sprinted over to Sarah. He threw his arms around her legs again, nearly knocking her back onto the curb.

"Hi Toby," Sarah greeted hesitantly, trying not to smile when his adorable head looked up at her with a big grin stretching from ear to ear.

"You came!" Toby laughed with delight, before unwrapping his arm from her leg and spreading them out wide— his way of asking for Sarah to pick him up. She obediently bent down and picked the tot up, walking up to the porch as Toby happily held onto her neck for dear life.

"I'm so thrilled you could make it!" Irene said, sounding as exuberant as she'd stated. "Come, we have a wonderful dinner cooking just for you."

"Irene, you didn't have to—" Sarah started to say.

"Sarah, read me a story!" Toby interrupted insistently.

Irene smiled warmly as she led her stepdaughter into the house, and said, "Maybe you could read him that one you used to love when you were a girl— _the Maze_, I think it was called?"

"_The Labyrinth_?" Sarah echoed in horror. "Uh, that's not my favourite. Besides… I don't have the book anymore."

"Where did it go?" Irene asked confusedly.

"I… sort of burned it," Sarah said sheepishly. Irene gave her a curious look and Toby bounced up and down in Sarah's arms.

"Yeah, I want that story!" he cried happily. "The Labibinth!"

Sarah laughed at Toby's mispronunciation and set him back down on the floor, giving herself a good chance to look around. The house certainly hadn't changed in the two years Sarah hadn't been there. It was still a little old-fashioned, like a grandmother's house. Sarah's eyes were immediately drawn first to the old grandfather clock in the corner, and then to the stairs upstairs. She wondered what her old room looked like now.

"Tell me the story, Sarah!" Toby insisted, but Sarah ignored him and ventured upstairs, her curiosity getting the better of her. It felt ominous to walk up all those stairs and find that white door waiting for her, almost as if she were sixteen again and Jareth might just be waiting for her behind that innocent-looking door…

A thump behind her caused her to jump, and when she whirled around she saw that it was just Toby waddling up the last step. Sarah rolled her eyes at the stubbornness this child possessed and opened the door. She was shocked to see that nothing had changed since she'd left for college two years ago. The bed was still there with her old quilt, her walls were still bare, her stuffed animal shelf was still empty, her vanity was still clear of all the figurines and books and pictures… and the mirror was still cracked from side to side. Sarah entered the room, feeling unnecessarily frightened, sat down on the vanity chair and stared into the mirror. Scattered pieces of her reflections showed in the broken mirror.

"Tell me now, Sarah?" Toby whined, flopping over to the bed and snuggling into the sheets.

"Not that story kiddo," Sarah said quietly. "Pick another one."

"But I want _that _one," Toby wailed, kicking his little legs. "The Labibinth!"

"It's '_the Labyrinth_'," Sarah said, raising her eyebrows.

All of a sudden she heard a tiny whispering sound coming from in front of her, the voice incoherent and sounding miles away. Sarah stared in horror in front of her, where the mirror was. The mirror that she'd broken to prevent any unwanted guests from coming out of.

"Toby, why don't you go ask your mother if you can have a snack?" Sarah said quickly, not taking her eyes off of the mirror.

"'M not hungry," Toby said grumpily.

"I'll tell you the story after dinner if you go downstairs right now," Sarah compromised, and Toby immediately zoomed out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Sarah strained her ears to try and hear the voice again, but all she heard was absolute silence except the cooing of an owl outside her window.

An owl…

Sarah leapt from her chair and bolted toward the window, fear exploding inside of her. The owl was perched in the tree outside her window, but it wasn't the beige barn owl Jareth had been— it was a bark-coloured owl with enormous green eyes. Sarah sighed with relief before she heard the voice again.

"Sarah."

The voice was calling for her louder than before and more coherently, there, in the mirror. Sarah recognized that voice, and she tentatively walked back to the vanity, leaned in to the cracked mirror and whispered his name.

"H-Hoggle?"

The dwarf immediately plunged out of the mirror, landing on the floor with a hard thump and a grunt. Sarah choked back a scream and pressed herself to the wall— how the _hell _could he have come out of a broken mirror?

"'Lo Sarah," Hoggle grunted. "Nice to see yeh again after all these years."

"Hoggle… wh-what are you _doing _here?" Sarah whispered. "How did you get here?"

"Believe me, yeh didn't make it easy by breakin' the mirror," Hoggle replied lowly. "I've been tryin' for months now."

His tone and expression suddenly turned urgent. "Sarah, we need yer help back in the Underground. It's an emergency!"

"An emergency?" Sarah echoed confusedly, before her own tone turned urgent. "Is Ludo hurt? Or Didymus?"

"Glad to see yeh still care," Hoggle mumbled audibly. "Nah, they're fine. It's someone else that needs yer help. We need yeh to come back to the Underground."

"Hoggle, I can't go back!" Sarah cried. "I can never go back there! I didn't want anything to do with the Underground!"

"Believe me, I've noticed," Hoggle said, and Sarah felt tears of guilt begin to well up in her eyes. "Yeh have to come back, Sarah. We're all dependin' on yeh to save us!"

He held out his stubby little hand and looked up at her with a devastated expression in his beady eyes. "Will yeh come back? For us?"

Sarah's lower lip trembled as she stared at his hand, which was becoming blurrier by the second from the tears she was fighting back. "All… all right."

She took his hand, and she and Hoggle immediately appeared on the dusty, grassy hill. The tears she was fighting erupting over her cheeks when she got a good look of the scene before her.

**A/N: DUN DUN DUN :D what has befallen the Labyrinth? I shan't tell! Well, actually I shall, but not until you click the 'next' button and send me a nice little review ;)**


	2. A Destroyed Labyrinth and its King

Chapter 2

A Destroyed Labyrinth And Its King

The Labyrinth was in ruins. Where there was once a twisting, magical labyrinth that stretched as far as the eye could see, there was only a bleak expanse of black, charred ruins and toppled walls. It was as though someone had dropped an atomic bomb there. The Labyrinth was more broken than Sarah could have possibly imaged. Hoggle squeezed her hand comfortingly, which only made Sarah cry harder since she knew she didn't deserve to be comforted, especially by the friend she'd abandoned.

"D-d-did I do this?" Sarah stammered, wiping her eyes with her free hand. "I k-killed it?"

"Yeh were a part of it," Hoggle said discreetly. "When yeh said no to His Majesty."

Sarah turned to her old friend with her mouth open in horror, silently asking how on Earth she could have done this destruction by simply saying no to an impossible offer from an impossible man.

"It's a long story," Hoggle mumbled, and immediately the ruined Labyrinth scene vanished to be replaced with a hard stone wall. Sarah blinked the rest of the tears out of her eyes and look around confusedly.

"Are we in Jareth's castle?" she asked, reaching out to touch the gritty stone as if confirming it was there.

"No, we're far from the Labyrinth now, in the Fae Kingdom," Hoggle said briskly.

"The Fae Kingdom?" Sarah repeated confusedly. "There's more than just the Labyrinth?"

"Of course!" Hoggle exclaimed, still clutching her hand tightly. "The Labyrinth and His Majesty's castle are in the Goblin Kingdom. He himself is Fae."

"Jareth is Fae…" Sarah echoed in a murmur. "How many kingdoms are there, exactly?"

"Well, there's the Dreamcaster, the Fae, the Syren, the Elfin, the Rock Callers, the Dwarf and the Goblin Kingdom… so I s'pose there's seven," Hoggle listed, before gently tugging her hand.

"Where _is_ Jareth?" Sarah asked suddenly, noticing Hoggle hesitate to answer.

"We'll discuss that later," he said softly, leading her down the hall. The two or them climbed a pair of beautiful, golden spiral steps up to a second level, where Hoggle led her down a dusty, empty hallway. The moment Sarah turned the corner she spotted something down the hall, something that looked suspiciously like a man.

"Hey, wait!" Sarah called, starting to run down the hall toward the figure. Her hand left Hoggle's and she heard his hoarse voice cry out to her. The man, who apparently had not heard her calls, turned to his left and disappeared around a corner. She took a sharp turn and rammed into the man's back, the impact throwing her back and making her tumble to the floor. He looked back down at her with crossness reflecting in his pale silver eyes, but it gradually faded, and instead of helping her up he stepped to the side a few feet away and took place in the corner, hands behind his back.

Sarah immediately heard hushed, confused voices murmuring, echoing through the room, and she looked up to see several people staring at her, some with horror, some with confusion. One old woman in the corner had clearly been weeping, since her eyes were puffy and red and her face was tearstained. Sarah couldn't help but notice she was rather pretty even though she was elderly, with long white hair piled in a mound on top of her head and twined with lilacs. Her gown was a pleasant tint of lavender, and her eyes were violet, completing the general purple look. The man she'd seen walking down the corridor now stood a few feet from her, his face bearing neither horror nor confusion, but a cross between an amused smirk and intrigue. All of the people had the same eye markings as Jareth had. Sarah scrambled off the ground, feeling embarrassed and frightened.

"Hello, child," said an old, frail-looking man kindly, stepping towards her. He had a crown on his head, so Sarah had clearly interrupted some sort of court meeting between a king and his subjects.

"S-sorry to interrupt," Sarah stammered, bowing her head to indicate respect to the apparent king.

"What is your name, little one?" the king asked, smiling at her kind-heartedly. "I am King Minos."

"My name is Sarah," she said, a little less nervously. Her nervousness immediately flared up again when the Fae in the room burst out in shocked gasps and murmurs.

"The Champion of the Labyrinth?" King Minos said in astonishment, his face now devoid of the smile. The woman in the corner who'd been weeping stormed over to Sarah, who retaliated in a panic at the furious look on the woman's face. King Minos captured her in his arms quickly before the woman could take a swipe at Sarah.

"You," the old woman snarled. "_You killed my son_!"

"Wh-wha…?" came out of Sarah's mouth stupidly.

"Hush, precious, the child is not at fault," King Minos said hurriedly, in a hushed voice. "She did not know the consequences of her actions."

"My… actions?" Sarah repeated blankly, before tears welled up in her eyes again. "I _killed_ someone? Please, Your Majesty, you have to tell me everything I've done! I have to fix it… it's all my fault!" Sarah wailed, the tears spilling over her cheeks. The old woman, who'd been looking hell-bent on destroying her only moments ago, suddenly stopped looking angry and looked blank at the guilty tears that fell down Sarah's face. Hoggle suddenly ran into the room, bowing hurriedly to the people in the room.

"Sarah!" he panted, but Sarah waved him off and sniffled.

"I've seen what I did to the Labyrinth," Sarah mumbled to the King. "If I caused more damage than that… if I honestly killed somebody…"

"Relax, my child, you did not kill my son," King Minos said reassuringly. "My wife overreacted."

"Your… wife…?" Sarah repeated, staring at the defiant old woman still wrapped in the old king's arms. "Then you're the queen…"

"Yes, this is my beautiful wife Lavender," King Minos said happily, looking down at the queen with a face full of adoration. Sarah couldn't help but smile through her tears at the look he was giving her; it was so loving, so adoring.

"And your son… then your son must be…" Sarah said, before gasping. "Are you Jareth's parents?"

"Indeed," said King Minos happily, while Queen Lavender just looked at her with a sour look.

"I… killed Jareth?" Sarah said blatantly, somehow unsure whether to be horrified or slightly proud of herself.

"No child, my son is not dead," King Minos said quickly.

"He's as good as dead, thanks to you," Queen Lavender snapped.

"Would you like to rest, my child?" King Minos said, ignoring his Queen's last comment. "Jace and Hoggle will show you to your room."

The man in the corner that she'd followed, the one that had been watching her the entire while, immediately stepped forward and bowed to Sarah, making her flush confusedly. When he rose she saw that he was almost a head taller than her… rather the same height as Jareth.

"If you'll come with me, princess," the one called Jace said quickly, sweeping out of the room. Sarah quickly gripped Hoggle's hand and followed the servant back down the hall.

_Princess? _Sarah thought to herself confusedly, as they turned corner after corner and climbed several sets of stairs. After a while, Sarah was beginning to wonder how big this castle really was.

"This is your room, princess," Jace said airily, turning the handle of a black wood door and swinging it open. Sarah obediently stepped into the room, which was majestic and pristine. An enormous canopy bed with blue velvet drapes sat in the corner, and on one side of the room there was a black marble fireplace surrounded by a couple of stuffy, faded indigo armchairs. An enormous black wood dresser sat in one corner. At the far edge of the room, there was another door.

"Thank you," said Sarah. Jace's face immediately reflected pure shock, which confused Sarah.

"The Fae don't normally, er, thank their servants," Hoggle explained quickly. Sarah turned to Jace and said firmly, "I'm not Fae, and I don't care what they do or don't do. Thank you, Jace, for bringing me to my room."

Before she closed the door, she said, "And I'm not a princess."

Jace's face still reflected shock when she closed the door behind her.

"Uh oh," Hoggle grunted, and Sarah turned to him. "I think yeh might have made friends with Jace."

"Why is that a bad thing?" Sarah asked confusedly. "I think that's good, since all the other Fae here seem to hate me. Except the King, but I don't think he hates anything."

"It's a bad thing, because Jace's got a reputation," Hoggle said quietly. "If he likes yeh, he'll eh, bed yeh," Hoggle added hesitantly.

"Bed you…?" Sarah repeated. "Oh Hoggle, you don't have to worry about that."

"Yeah, I do," Hoggle mumbled. "'Cause the Fae are different from me and yeh. They're more interested in pleasure than love, so they pretty much… do what Jace does 'til they find love."

"They're all like that?" Sarah gaped, and Hoggle nodded.

"Not just that, but he's got such a reputation with beddin' all them girls that they pick him every year for the breedin' ceremony," Hoggle explained quietly.

"The _what_?" Sarah gawked, before shaking her head vigorously. "Er, never mind, I don't want to know."

"He's a horny git, let's just go with that," Hoggle said.

"Hoggle!" Sarah gasped, shocked.

She suddenly blinked at the décor of the room, realizing that it held too much of a male taste for it to have been prepared for her… and not just that, but it held a familiar scent.

"Who's room was this, Hoggle?" Sarah asked, looking over the room again. "Was it Jace's?"

When Hoggle didn't answer, she bit her lip and guessed, "This was Jareth's room."

With a heavy sigh Sarah dragged herself over to the welcoming bed and flopped onto it, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"Where's Ludo and Didymus?" Sarah asked Hoggle, suddenly remembering her two other friends

"Back in the Rock Caller Kingdom," Hoggle said softly. "And Sarah?"

"Yes?"

"I forgive yeh."

Sarah was silent as she sat up and stared at Hoggle in shock with her mouth dropped to the stone floor.

"Hoggle, I don't deserve your forgiveness—" Sarah began to say.

"I didn't neither," Hoggle interrupted with a smile. "After I abandoned yeh and gave yeh that peach. But I got it anyways, and now yer getting' it anyways too."

"Oh Hoggle!" Sarah wailed, and she flung her arms around her friend's neck and promptly began crying for the third time that day.

"There, there, now," Hoggle said, patting her shoulder awkwardly.

"I should have never, ever tried to forget you or this place," Sarah whimpered, pulling away from him to wipe her eyes. "I'm going to fix everything I've screwed up here."

She suddenly remembered what Queen Lavender had said. "Hoggle, what exactly is wrong with Jareth?"

"That can be discussed in the mornin'," Hoggle said kindly. "Yer tired. Get some sleep."

"Mmkay," Sarah mumbled, lying back down and smiling at her best friend. "Don't go far."

"I won't."

* * *

In this dream, Jareth was lying unconscious on the grassy hill before the Labyrinth. Sarah, who was once again wearing her old homemade gown, was shaking his shoulders desperately, trying to get him to wake, but he would not. Sarah was worried that he was dead.

"Wake up, Jareth!" she wailed, giving him one last shake. He still didn't stir. On the verge of tears now, Sarah tried one last thing— she leaned down and softly kissed his lips. His eyes fluttered open and Sarah would have cried out with relief, except that Jareth kept her mouth captured and kissed her ferociously, his tongue exploring the soft skin of her lips. Instead of a cry Sarah managed out a reassured whimper, at which Jareth let out a low growl and shoved her onto her back, pinning her to the grassy ground. His hands ripped open the bodice and then shoved the skirt of her gown up, revealing her areas to the world. Jareth immediately straddled her waist, and after giving her one last kiss he thrust himself into her. Sarah's mouth flew open for a gasp, and her gasps turned to moans and cries as Jareth made passionate love to her.

Sarah once again woke, sweaty and heart racing… and embarrassingly wet. In fact, Sarah realized this with a ferocious blush, she had no choice now but to change. It seemed that being in Jareth's home (and in his room) made the dream more intense, even more so than usual, because in this one instead of being merely captured in a fantastic kiss, or being touched and introduced to carnal sensations with Jareth's talented fingers, she'd actually let him take her. Sarah got up from the bed, feeling uncomfortably hot and wet from the dream, and started toward the door on the far side of the room. She opened it to see an enormous bathroom, even more elegant than her room. The bath, built into the stone floor, seemed more like a small pool, and she was pretty sure it was made of gold. The walls were entirely covered in mirrors, making Sarah feel surrounded by herself. Sarah was just thinking about taking a bath when the tub suddenly filled itself entirely was water, steam raising it hypnotic swirls from the surface. Sarah quickly tore off all her clothing, the bath looking too inviting to pass up, and slipped inside.

The bath was heaven to Sarah. It was like the savoury warmth of the water was making everything go away— the shock of being yanked back into the place she'd tried for two years to forget; the destruction of the Labyrinth; the stress of knowing that something was horribly wrong with Jareth and it was definitely her fault. For a few moments Sarah closed her eyes and just sat there in the warmth, with a blissfully blank mind, not thinking about anything.

And then her dream of Jareth exploded back into her mind. Sarah shivered despite the acute heat of the bath water as the events were replayed in her head. She couldn't help but like that this time she and Jareth had actually gotten to second base, instead of having Jared to wake her up before that had happened (she also noticed that, despite being a virgin in reality, in her dream she clearly wasn't). Sarah pushed the thought out of her mind desperately when her lower regions began to throb with complaint.

Sarah nearly had a heart attack when a piercing scream suddenly echoed through the whole castle. She jumped out the bath quickly and grabbed a fresh new nightgown that was conveniently hung on a hook (_Thank God for magic, _Sarah thought) just as Hoggle burst into her room.

"Oh, you're awake," he said quickly, looking nervous.

"Hoggle, what the hell was that?" Sarah asked in astonishment, as she stepped into the room.

"Nothin' to be concerned about," Hoggle replied dismissively. "Jace is takin' care of it."

Sarah's eyes narrowed at the dwarf, who was clearly hiding something from her. She opened her mouth to demand what it was, but Queen Lavender's words suddenly popped into her head.

"_You killed my son. He's as good as dead."_

"Hoggle… that was Jareth, wasn't it?" Sarah said quietly, and when Hoggle looked genuinely taken aback Sarah knew that she'd guess right. Jareth was honestly in that much pain…

Sarah turned away from Hoggle and swept out of the room into the hall, just as another scream reverberated against the walls followed by a distinct sobbing. Sarah, feeling more and more frightened as she approached the source of the sobbing, began to power-walk, and then broke out into a jog. She turned the corner to see a door standing ajar at the far end of the hall, light spilling out of it. Sarah approached and heard Jace's voice calming the sobbing person inside the room.

"Jace!" Sarah called out, panting just as Jace whirled out of the room and closed the door behind her. His face reflected the same as Hoggle's had: shock that she was there and then worry that she would discover the truth.

"That was Jareth in there?" Sarah demanded, just as Hoggle caught up with her panting hard.

"His Majesty is ill," said Jace, in the same dismissive tone that Hoggle had used. "It is only dawn, princess, perhaps you'd rather catch up on your rest—?"

"No, I want to see Jareth," Sarah said firmly, shocking both Hoggle and herself. In all of her years of knowing him, Sarah had never once wanted to see Jareth— the exact opposite, as a matter of fact.

"I'm afraid he's in no condition to have visitors at the moment," Jace said, still with that flippant tenor that was starting to annoy Sarah.

"How ill can somebody get where it drives a man like Jareth to scream?" Sarah demanded angrily.

"He's ill," repeated Jace simply.

"Like hell he is," Sarah snapped, before shoving Jace out of the way and barging into the room.

What Sarah saw made her scream.

**A/N: special thanks to Kurekeno, who added a review an hour after I posted the first chapter of this XD you must also thank her; it is because of kurekeno that i am posting three extra chapters. i'd meant to save them, but time is a virtue :3 enjoy!**


	3. Sarah Williams, Queen of Goblins

Chapter 3

Sarah Williams, Queen of Goblins

Jareth was now huddled in the corner of a windowless room, dressed in dirtied rags of clothing. His hair, once flyaway and straw-coloured, was now limp and dirty, and his once apparent muscles were gone— he was extremely thin and skeletal. The man who had once been a powerful, magical and malicious Goblin King was now shaking from head to toe, cowering from the world. At Sarah's scream he flinched and replied with a low moan of fear. The only piece of furniture in the whole room seemed to be a bed, with shredded sheets. The room was windowless and the walls had several phrases carved into the stone.

"What… he… I…?" came out of Sarah's mouth, the shock of seeing Jareth so diluted making her unable to form coherent speech.

"I told you, His Majesty is ill," said Jace swiftly, as if not noticing the frightened man curled up in the corner.

"Sarah, His Majesty's insane," Hoggle said quietly, looking up at her sadly. "He's been like this for half a year now."

"It's your fault," said Jace bluntly. "Because you were his one and only love, and despite the fact that he offered everything he had to you, you refused him."

"I said no to a ridiculous offer and he went _insane_ because of it?" Sarah gaped, unable to tear her eyes from Jareth.

"His offer was not ridiculous, it was loving," Jace explained. "The Fae are condemned to love only once. Until we find that love we usually take more interest in pleasure than affection, but when a Fae falls for another, nothing else truly matters."

He finally turned to look at her, with a genuinely concerned look on his face.

"And if a Fae has their heart broken by that love," Jace said softly. "It is almost impossible for them to move on. They could die."

"You can actually die of a broken heart?" Sarah said, still gawking at Jareth. "Why didn't Jareth die?"

"He's one of the lucky ones," Jace said bitterly, turning back to the broken Goblin King. "It's a miracle that he's lasted this long."

Sarah fell totally silent, watching as Jareth's mismatched eyes darted toward her. A bubble of devastation began to swell in her chest— she'd honestly condemned such a powerful, magical man to a life of lunacy just because she'd said no. Sarah slowly and hesitantly stepped into the room, approaching Jareth cautiously. He flinched back as she advanced on him, and tried his hardest to press himself to the wall as though hoping to sink through it to safety. As she approached she managed to make out some of the writing on the walls. Several times it said 'Give me the child', 'You have no power over me' and 'It's not fair. Other times it listed the complete set of lyrics to the song he'd attempted to serenade her with in the Escher room, and more often that anything else it said her name, sometimes on its own, sometimes in a phrase like 'Beautiful Sarah' or 'Sarah, forgive me.'

Sarah tore her eyes from Jareth's handiwork, bent down low next to him to eye-level and whispered, "Jareth?"

He didn't respond, but his tense body did loosen slightly and his head lifted to stare back at her with eyes as wide as coins.

"Jareth, it's me," she said quietly. "Do you recognize me?"

Jareth's brows furrowed together and his mouth opened. "Are… are you one of them?"

"Who, Jareth?" Sarah asked confusedly. "One of who?"

Jareth face immediately contorted to rage and he shouted, "YOU WANT TO HURT HER!"

He lunged at her immediately, and with a sharp cry Sarah fell back onto the stone. Jace swiftly pounced on Jareth, knocking him backward and pinning him to the wall. Jareth struggled for a moment before falling limp and sinking to the ground. Sarah sat up off the ground and saw his shoulder's shaking, and his face twisted with agony and tears pouring down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry…" he cried, and Jace let him go and backed away, apparently unsure of what to do. "I failed you…"

Sarah crawled over to him, despite the fact he'd just attacked her, and sat down next to him. Slowly and steadily, she slid one arm around his neck and pulled him closer, cradling the sobbing Jareth in her arms, his head resting on the peaks of her breasts.

"Shh…" she soothed him, as he clung to her like a child and sobbed into her robes.

"I'm sorry…" Jareth wailed again. "It wasn't enough…"

"I know," Sarah said quietly, smoothing a lock of hair from his face. "It's okay—"

"No, no…" he moaned, shaking his head vigorously. "I'm sorry, Sarah, I didn't mean it!"

Sarah stared down at the weeping man she was embracing in utter shock. Despite being utterly mad, the man still knew her name, and still continued to speak it. Sarah slowly began to realize that in his own demented way he was trying to apologize to her for two years ago.

As Jareth cried in her arms, Sarah bowed her head over his own protectively, and whispered in his ear, "I forgive you, Jareth."

Jareth gradually quietened, and soon he was sleeping soundly in Sarah's embrace. Jace stepped forward to take Jareth, but Sarah shielded him with her arms and mumbled, "Please don't."

Jace obediently withdrew, and Sarah watched as Jace stepped out of the room and ushered Hoggle away with a sharp wave of his hand. The door closed behind him but Sarah knew perfectly well that Jace was still standing guard just outside— there was no way in hell that he'd leave her alone with Jareth in such a condition. Sarah was just thinking about how unusually peaceful Jareth looked when he slept when she, too, nodded off.

* * *

Sarah was woken that morning by a man's soft voice crooning in her ear, "Sarah…" and a light shaking of her shoulders. She stirred, unwilling to open her eyes, and then suddenly remembered Jareth, and the condition he'd been in when she'd fallen asleep. Her eyes snapped open when she realized Jareth was no longer in her arms, and when her vision cleared his beautiful, smiling face was only inches from hers. The wild look was gone from his mismatched eyes— all that was left was peace and an unexplainable longing.

"J-Jareth?" Sarah stammered, looking positively dumbstruck. "How… what…?"

"Thank you, Sarah," Jareth murmured. "You saved me."

"I— what?" she managed to say. "You mean… you're okay now? But… how? What did I do?"

"You forgave me," Jareth said softly, reaching out with one hand to gently caress her cheek. "Like I thought you'd never do."

"Oh Jareth!" Sarah wailed, and he dove forward to kidnap her lips with his, and Sarah gladly kissed him back as tears streamed down her cheeks, because Jareth was actually _okay_…

Sarah woke from the dream, half expecting to see Jareth's smiling face looming over hers again. When she realized that it had all been a dream, that Jareth wasn't okay, her heart seemed to fall apart in her chest right there and then. Sarah blinked in the darkness when she realized that Jareth was no longer in her embrace. She sat up, wincing at the pain in her back that had developed from hours of leaning against a solid wall, and looked around the room, trying to squint through the darkness to see the Goblin King. She spotted him watching her from on top of the bed, his head poking out of the sheets like what Toby did when playing hide and seek. When Sarah turned to him and spotted him, his head disappeared underneath the covers. Sarah raised her eyebrows, got up and walked towards the lump in the sheets that was Jareth.

"What are you doing under there?" Sarah asked softly, slowly lifting up the sheets just as Jace barged in through the door. The door hit the wall with a loud bang, causing Jareth to scream at the loud noise and curl up into a ball.

"_Jace_," Sarah said angrily, giving him a look that clearly stated '_Now look what you've done_.'

"My apologies," Jace said briskly, striding over to her and putting one hand on her elbow to steer her out of the room. "But we must talk immediately if you wish to save His Majesty's life."

Sarah snapped to attention and obediently followed him, trying to ignore the whimpers Jareth was emanating from underneath the sheets. Jace closed the door again behind him, and Sarah spotted Hoggle standing a few feet away watching her with a bothered expression.

"_Give_ me the child…" Jareth wailed from underneath the covers.

"We must discuss the options to save His Majesty," Jace said urgently, as if Jareth hadn't said anything. "There are only two, and I'm quite sure you shall dislike both of them."

"I'll do anything," Sarah said quickly. "Tell me."

"Yeh have to take his powers, Sarah," said Hoggle quietly, taking a step toward her. "And make him human."

"Humans do not die of broken hearts as we do," Jace explained. "If he were to be human and powerless your rejection would affect him less and—"

"I can't do that to Jareth," said Sarah desperately. "You of all people must know that Jareth adores his magic! He'd probably rather die than be turned human." Jace nodded, as if he'd expected this to be her answer.

"Then there's only one other option, Sarah," Hoggle mumbled. "And yer gonna hate that one even more."

"What?" Sarah demanded, her gaze rapidly switching between Jace and Hoggle. "What's the second option? Tell me!"

"The second option," Jace started. "Is for us to alter his memories so that he believes you had never rejected his offer in the first place."

"Yeh'd have to make him think yeh said yes, Sarah," Hoggle said, his eyes reflecting extreme pity. "Yeh'd have to become the Goblin Queen."

Sarah stood there and gawked at the servant and the dwarf, clearly taken aback. For the last two years, Sarah had been proud of herself for not giving in to the Goblin King's offer, and now… to save a man she'd hated with all her heart from insanity, she'd have to go back on that proud decision and accept his offer.

"I…" came out of Sarah's mouth. "I have to marry Jareth?"

"Yes, that would also become a necessary step," said Jace briskly, clearly hard-hearted to the desperation of her situation. "As well as eventually siring his child."

"Shut up," Hoggle advised Jace coldly.

But Sarah hadn't heard the last thing Jace had said due to the fact that she was lost in her thoughts, in her guilt that if she didn't do this for Jareth, for the entire _Kingdom_… she and the rest of the kingdom would probably never forgive her.

"I'll do it," Sarah said firmly, snapping out of her trance and looking Jace firmly in the eye. Jace looked mildly shocked at her answer but nevertheless nodded in agreement.

"I shall erase his memories now," he said, sweeping into the room again with Sarah on his tail. "You must aid me afterward in creating a new one."

"How do I do that?" Sarah asked confusedly, her eyes wavering back to the lump in the sheets that was Jareth.

"It's not _fair_!" Jareth suddenly howled, flinging the sheets off of him. Jace pinned him down onto the bed, where Jareth writhed and kicked before falling silent and still. His crazed eyes darted back and forth from Jace to Sarah. Jace conjured up a crystal ball, much to Sarah's astonishment since she'd thought only Jareth had that power, and dropped it over Jareth's head, where it popped like a bubble on his forehead. Jareth's eyes closed immediately, and he slumped unconscious. Sarah quickly pulled the sheets back over his body, which earned her an annoyed look from Jace.

"He does not remember anything in the past two years," Jace said quietly. "Now you must make the new memory, of the time you rejected his offer."

"Wh-what do I do?" Sarah stuttered, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Say the first thing you said to him that time."

Sarah leaned over and said tentatively, "Give me the child."

All of a sudden the scene before her vanished — Jace, Hoggle, the bed, the room, Jareth — to be replaced with the broken ruins in the middle of nowhere. Sarah touched her face, shocked to find that she was sixteen again. And then, from the shadows, emerged the malicious Goblin King, dressed in the pale white robes of the owl. His mismatched eyes were set on Sarah, who was fighting not to cry at seeing Jareth _normal _again (and partly at being back in this awful memory).

"Sarah, I have been generous up until now," he murmured. "But I can be cruel."

"Generous?" Sarah said quietly, playing out from memory. "What have you done that's generous?"

"Everything!" snapped Jareth, in the child-like tone that was so reminiscent of him. "Everything you wanted I have done. You asked for the child to be taken; I took him. You _cowered_ before me; I was frightening."

Jareth began to pace angrily, and behind him a large clock appeared with the hands spinning rapidly backwards.

"I have re-ordered time," he said darkly. "I have turned the world upside-down, and I have _done it all for you_. It's exhausting living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?"

"Yes, I suppose it is," Sarah said softly, shocking both herself and Jareth. "But perhaps it isn't enough to keep me from my baby brother."

"But look at what I'm offering you," said Jareth in a whiny tone that was also reminiscent of him. A crystal ball appeared at his fingertips. "Your dreams. I ask for so little. Just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you want."

Sarah had never noticed it before, but Jareth's face did look genuinely pleading as he held out the crystal to her. Back when she'd been a child she'd assumed he'd been bluffing, just trying to distract or trick her from her goal ahead.

"Everything?" Sarah whispered. She hated to admit to herself, but she was actually tempted, and for a moment she forgot that she wasn't actually sixteen again.

"Everything," Jareth said firmly. "Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave."

He held out the crystal to her one last time, his face practically shining with hope and anticipation.

"On one condition," Sarah said softly. "My brother goes back to the Aboveground."

"Yes, precious, of course!" Jareth said hastily, looking thrilled. It made Sarah want to both smile and cry at the same time as she took the crystal from his hand. Jareth suddenly pulled her into the most loving embrace she'd ever been in—

Sarah opened her eyes; she was back in the room again. She turned to Jace and said, "It's done."

Jace nodded seriously and the two of them turned back to Jareth, who was now sleeping soundly.

"He will recover quite soon," Jace said seriously. "When he wakes, we will tell him that after your wedding, he fell ill over these past two years and has been unconscious."

"You really think he's going to believe that?" Sarah said incredulously.

"Two years to us is practically nothing," Jace said with a shrug, rising from Jareth's bedside and turning away. "And there are indeed some rare diseases that may prolong recovery for up to ten years. He'll believe it."

Then Jace pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment and a quill and handed it to Sarah.

"You must sign your name, princess," he said. "It will make your marriage to His Majesty official without a wedding."

Sarah raised her eyebrows at the quill (_Why not just use pens? _She thought) and obediently signed her name at the very bottom of the page.

Jace took the document left without another word, and Hoggle replaced him at Sarah's side looking up at her sheepishly.

"Sarah," Hoggle said softly, patting her shoulder. "I hope yeh know what yeh just agreed to."

"I agreed to save Jareth's sanity and life," Sarah mumbled, keeping her eyes locked on Jareth. Her eyes drank in every detail of his face, the abnormal peace that it held when he slept, because she knew that once he woke she'd probably never see that peaceable face again.

* * *

For the next week Sarah stayed at Jareth's bedside, waiting for him to wake, only leaving at twilight to sleep in her room or to practice the story of why Jareth had been bedridden for two years, until it was lodged so permanently in her mind she almost believed it herself. Sarah's hopes were beginning to fall each passing day when Jareth remained unconscious; she wondered if maybe Jace erasing Jareth's memories hadn't worked. And then…

"Sarah!" said Hoggle's gruff voice, shaking her with his tiny, stubby hands. Sarah groaned and rolled over, her forehead sweaty. She'd just had quite an intense dream where she and Jareth had been in the Aboveground in Sarah's old apartment, where Sarah was handcuffed to the bed and they were making furious love.

"Sarah, wake up!" Hoggle insisted, and Sarah obediently but grudgingly opened her eyes to see Hoggle's face looming over hers, reflecting urgency and, if possible, a little anxiety.

"Wha…?" she mumbled, sitting up and yawning. "What is it, Hoggle?"

"It's His Majesty," was all Hoggle said, but it was enough for Sarah to snap to attention immediately, yank on a pair of slippers and lunge out of bed. Sarah threw on a robe over her nightgown and jogged down the hallway and around the corner to Jareth's windowless room, but the bed in there was devoid of a Goblin King.

"Where's Jareth?" Sarah demanded to nobody in particular, before spinning around and running back down the hall. She nearly smacked into Hoggle as she sprinted around the corner again, and then down the stairs to the only other room she knew. As Sarah ran down the hall again, she heard happy voices chattering from around the corner in the summit room, and with a determined burst of speed she dashed around the corner and once again smacked into somebody's back.

Except that somebody was Jareth this time, but now he was healthier looking, his hair voluminous again and he was once again attired in the shockingly tight riding pants and a white poets shirt that revealed most of his chest.

She and Jareth stared at each other with shocked gazes, while other astonished (and some anxious) eyes rested on the couple, watching, waiting for someone to react. A smirk immediately blossomed on Jareth's thin mouth, and with his familiar airy tone he said, "Interesting way to greet me after so long, precious."

"My son is okay!" beamed Queen Lavender, stepping out of the shadows and embracing Jareth as if Sarah hadn't just rammed into him— or stepped into the room, for that matter. "We're currently preparing a celebration. The kingdom is overjoyed that you are alive and well. And you've gotten far too thin— we shall have an enormous feast as well."

"Do not kill the boy right after he's recovered, dearest," said King Minos with a jovial smile and a laugh to match.

"Indeed," was all Jareth said, except that the entire time his parents were talking he was not even sparing them a second glance. His mismatched eyes rested solely on Sarah, who couldn't even react big enough; all she could do was stand there, look positively shocked, and not bother to control the heat that was creeping up over her face.

At that moment Hoggle waddled in, huffing and puffing and indistinctly wheezing out how impossible it was to catch Sarah, and Sarah used him as an excuse to look away. She gave Jareth one last tentative smile before stepping out of the room and around the corner again. Immediately, an enormous grin exploded over her mouth, and she dropped to her knees and threw her arms around Hoggle's neck.

"I did it, Hoggle!" she laughed happily, giving him a giant squeeze. "Jareth is okay!"

"Yeh did it, Sarah," Hoggle agreed, patting her on the back. "Yeh definitely did it."

"Okay, so next step is to fix the Labyrinth," Sarah said as she withdrew her grip, looking thoughtful. "Now how am I going to do that…?"

Hoggle's face blanched as he looked past Sarah's shoulder to the person behind him, and the deep baritone voice of Jareth emanated from behind her, "Be gone now, Higgle."

Sarah's face blanched of its smile as well, and Hoggle, this time without correcting him, turned around obediently and power-walked down the hall. Sarah turned her head meekly, to see Jareth now towering over her with his hand outstretched.

"Rise, precious— it's quite filthy down there," he said with a smirk, and Sarah flushed and obediently took his hand.

"You're… okay now," she said lamely, looking at him with a blank face.

"Indeed," Jareth said. "You have changed quite a bit in appearance over the last two years while I was ill. You have become a woman."

"I… turned eighteen a week and a half ago," Sarah mumbled.

This was her first time talking — really talking — to Jareth since two years ago, when she'd rejected him.

"In that case," Jareth said softly, his eyes flashing. "Let me give to you a belated birthday and wedding present."

With hungry eyes he pinned her to the wall and, with the exact amount of lust Sarah had dreamt about, kissed her ferociously.

Except the kiss was nothing like the one in her dreams— those had been passionate and loving and amazing. Now, Jareth's lips were crushed against hers, and he forced her mouth open, and Sarah couldn't help but cringe at it. It was her first kiss, and she hated it— it was disgusting. True, Jareth was kissing her with all the passion and love he had… and it reminded Sarah with a jolt that she was now stuck living with her former enemy, a man she used to loathe, tried to forget and most certainly did not, could not and would not love.

And whom she happened to be having erotic dreams about.

Jareth's lips suddenly left hers when the two of them heard footsteps sounding from down the hall, and the two of them turned to see Jace emerge from around the corner. Shock just barely shadowed his face, and he bowed his head and said, "My apologies."

"I-It's fine," Sarah said quickly, avoiding Jareth's eye as he straightened up. "Er, do you know where Hoggle went?"

"He went down to the Grand Hall to oversee the preparations," Jace said swiftly, approaching them with a loping grace.

"Preparations?" Sarah repeated confusedly, which earned her a look from Jace.

"For His Majesty, princess," Jace said. "The entire kingdom is rejoicing the recovery of the prince." Sarah at first blinked confusedly and then, remembering that Jareth was next to her, forced a smile.

"Right," she said tentatively, still avoiding Jareth's gaze and still keeping that smile plastered onto her face when Jace passed them and entered the conference room. She'd forgotten that Jareth had been 'ill' these past two years— she'd also forgotten that she wouldn't just be living with him; she was married to him, sharing a bed with him…

Bearing his children.

Sarah started when Jareth leaned over and whispered into her ear, "Isn't it wonderful, precious?"

Sarah didn't know how to answer his question, so instead she said quietly, "I am Sarah Williams, Queen of Goblins."

And then she looked up at Jareth and smiled tentatively. "It does have an interesting ring to it, doesn't it?"

She giggled at the look of shock that crossed Jareth's face and started down the corridor in search of Hoggle.

_If I were a Grand Hall… _Sarah thought to herself, stepping down the spiral stairs and choosing one of several corridors. She heard voices coming from around the corner, and so she hurried towards the source of the sound to find an open door leading to an enormous room.

Clearly, this was the Grand Hall, for it was extremely magnificent. It had tall, arching ceilings that sparkled with gold, enormous glistening windows stretched from ground up, and diamond chandeliers hung and twinkled in the morning sun. There was an enormous, black oak table in the centre of the grand room, and there were decorations that dozens of Fae servants were bustling around to put together— white lilies blossomed here and there, and an enormous, long silk carpet stretched from the doorway to two white chairs at the far edge of the table — Sarah knew they were to be for her and Jareth — that were also draped with white silk and lilies. Hoggle was standing amidst the crowd, and Sarah giggled when she noticed a white lily petal stuck to his hat.

"Yeh're alive," Hoggle grunted, when Sarah hurried over to him.

"Er, yeah," Sarah said quietly, flushing. "Geez, they're certainly making a big deal out of Jareth's… _recovery_."

"Of course they are," Hoggle said happily. "He's the Fae Prince, and the Goblin King! And yeh're the Champion of the Labyrinth, the Fae Princess, the Goblin Queen… well, a lotta stuff," Hoggle added.

"Right," Sarah mumbled uncertainly, before remembering she was in a robe. "I should probably go back upstairs and change into something more appropriate."

"And I should get goin', since the crew's finished preparin' the feast," Hoggle added, as the two of them started out of the Hall together.

"Going?" Sarah repeated. "Where are you going?"

"Well… I kinda gotta see someone," Hoggle mumbled, and Sarah noticed the rounds of his prominent cheeks turn red. "And I'll have to tell Ludo and Didymus all about what's goin' on up here."

"Oh. Could you tell them…" Sarah started, suddenly feeling upset. "Tell them I'm sorry?"

"They know," Hoggle said, patting her on the elbow since he couldn't reach her shoulder. "And, uh, they gave yeh messages when I left to get yeh from the Aboveground. Didymus's was too long and had too many big words to remember—" Sarah giggled "—and Ludo's was, 'Sarah and Ludo friends.'"

Sarah's smile widened, even though tears filled her eyes, and she got on her knees again to give Hoggle another huge hug. After pulling away she asked, "Why are you leaving so early though?"

"Got a long trip ahead of me," Hoggle replied.

"Can't you … I don't know… just appear there like you did in the Aboveground and the Labyrinth?"

Hoggle shook his head before pulling out something from his jewellery bag— a bracelet. To be specific, Sarah's old plastic bracelet she'd given him in exchange for passage through the Labyrinth.

"This is what got me through yer mirror, Sarah," he said with a smile. "It's got magic, but it only works with yer mirror, and the Labyrinth, 'cause those were the only two places yeh went to on yer first visit."

"I can't believe you still have that old thing," Sarah laughed, as he put it back in his jewellery bag.

"I'd never lose it," Hoggle said embarrassedly, before quickly adding, "Er, try to survive by the time I get back, 'kay Sarah?"

"I'm only married to the Goblin King," Sarah said with a hollow laugh. "What could possibly go wrong?"

"Everythin'," Hoggle reminded her darkly.

And then Hoggle left down the hall, taking with him Sarah's old bracelet and a well-earned kiss on the cheek that left his face burning red.

**A/N: AWW he kept the bracelet! :D more to come, read on! R&R please**


	4. The Goblin King is Back

Chapter 4

The Goblin King Is Back

Sarah rose and watched Hoggle leave, her mind wandering to Ludo and Didymus. She tried to imagine what they'd been doing for the past two years, and all of a sudden she got a weird mental image of Ludo eating rocks and Didymus yelling hoarsely for a passing bumblebee to 'surrender immediately, you contemptible rogue!' The image made her chuckle to herself, and then Jareth's voice behind her made her jump.

"What's so funny, precious?"

She whirled around to see Jareth standing with the familiar haughty pose, a smirk stretched across his mouth again.

"Nothing important," she said, biting her lip to stop from smiling at the odd picture again. "Why are there so many white lilies for the celebration?"

"They're what dressed your hair at the ball, dearest," Jareth smirked, and Sarah couldn't help but flush. The ball hadn't been an easy memory to forget when she was in the Aboveground— in fact, throughout the entire two years she couldn't help but think of it constantly.

"This is supposed to be about you," Sarah reminded him with a tentative smile. "Not me."

"It wouldn't be much of a celebration if it didn't include you," was Jareth's swift reply, before he put one hand on her waist and steered her down the hall and up the spiral steps. "Come precious, we must dress for the gala."

"What should I wear?" Sarah gaped, suddenly worried. "And… did you just say 'gala'?"

"You shall wear what is fit for the gala," Jareth said briskly. "And yes I did. Twice."

Sarah stifled a giggle behind her hand and followed Jareth around the corner into their room. Jareth released her waist to open the wardrobe, which Sarah saw only had one dress in it, quite different from the one she'd worn at the ball two years ago. This one was thin, long and made of white silk, the low-cut bodice was ended with a silvery fabric, and the fabric looped at the sides to form loose-hanging sleeves. Sarah also spotted a pair of matching white slippers, and something that looked an awful lot like a matching corsage.

"Do I have to wear that… corsage?" she asked warily, when Jareth laid the dress out on the bed. Sarah knew perfectly well from the old medieval romances she'd used to read (before her adventures in the Labyrinth) that corsages were extremely uncomfortable.

"Yes," he said, taking and laying out the corsage as well. "It would be inappropriate not to."

He then approached her, and Sarah gasped and whirled around when his hands slid over her shoulders, preparing to take off her robe.

"You must take off your current attire to dress in another," Jareth said darkly, one eyebrow raised. Sarah gulped, scolded herself firmly in her mind and said tentatively with her back to him, "I can dress on my own."

"I know you can, but you'll never be able to tie the corset," Jareth said, and he advanced on her nonetheless. Sarah squeezed her eyes shut tight as his hands slid over her shoulders again and slid the robe off of her, tossing it idly onto the bed. For a moment he merely stared, fascinated, at the thin nightgown that hugged her hips and her thighs. It reminded him that she was a fully-grown woman now, and Lord, how her body had shaped itself over the past two years… it made Jareth have to summon a quantity of his self-control not to attack her there and then, to push her down on the floor and show her the perks of being married to a being such as himself…

Jareth shook himself back to reality and hungrily but gently pushed down the straps of the nightgown, relishing the shiver that he sent rippling over her skin from the light caresses of his fingertips. Slowly, he slid the nightgown down her body, watching it pool on the ground at the bottom of her feet. Purposely he slid his arms over her waist in reach of the corset, and Sarah shivered a second time. She tried her hardest not to think of any one of her millions of erotic dreams about the man standing behind her. The corset wrapped around her bare torso, and Sarah squeezed her eyes shut tighter in anticipation of the horrid pain she was expecting.

There was no immense and horrible pain, only a distinct tightening on her ribcage Jareth laced the corset from behind her, tightly but not so tight as to snap her in two as she'd anticipated. The corset only made it slightly harder to breathe, but Sarah barely noticed it when Jareth's fingers trailed over her thigh and he murmured in her ear, "See, that wasn't so bad, now was it precious?"

Sarah merely shivered in reply, and Jareth smirked again and reached from behind her to take the dress. Slowly and carefully he bunched up the dress and slid it over her head, where it fluttered into place onto her body as soft as rose petals. Sarah slid her arms into the loose, thin sleeves before Jareth could have a chance to, and then shuddered a third time when he instead zipped up her dress, brushing his fingertips over the nape of her neck when he finished.

"Ravishing," Jareth said— he hadn't meant to say it aloud, but he was pleased nevertheless. He knew she'd look good in the dress, but he hadn't anticipated just how positively stunning she truly looked. Sarah flushed at Jareth's comment and reached over to take the slippers.

"Aren't you going to get dressed too?" Sarah mumbled, as she pulled on the shoes and attempted to avoid his eye.

"I was not the one parading around in a nightgown," was Jareth's reply, which Sarah took as a 'no'. Then his hands slid over her neck and raked through her hair, gathering it up and twisting it into an elegant bun at the top of her head. Jareth made a white clip appear with an idle wave of his hand and slipped it into Sarah's hair, holding the bun in place.

"Now come, precious," he ordered, placing a hand on her elbow and leading her out the door again. As they walked down the spiral steps onto the lower level, the sound of chattering voices began to grow louder and louder, until they reached the balcony overlooking the first floor and Sarah saw that the castle was now flooded with neatly dressed Fae. Following the Fae were dwarves, all with lumpy noses and gnarled hands like Hoggle, dressed in completely green robes. Then came the strangest creatures of all; a group of slender women all with silvery-blue hair that trailed to their ankles, and gills in their necks. Following them were a clique of short little people dressed in formal wear, and when Sarah got a good look at them she saw that they were all children. All of them were laughing and chattering, and Sarah couldn't help but notice how they held themselves— like the whole lot of them were grand and rich and pristine. Sarah suddenly felt nervous and extremely out of place. Jareth swept her out of sight and pinned her against the wall, his eyes boring into hers.

"Now listen," Jareth murmured into her ear. His tone had suddenly gotten harsh and hard. "You will use proper etiquette when dining, and you will speak to my parents and the guests. You are also expected to say a few words on my behalf." He smirked. "Do nothing to embarrass me, or you shall be punished severely."

A wave of astonishment swept over her, and she looked up at him with eyes wide and mouth open. Jareth had gone in two seconds from being seductive and teasing to firm and threatening. Sarah sighed, thought to herself, _I knew this would happen_, and said through gritted teeth, "You forget— I've been here for two years. And I'm not a child anymore," she reminded him coldly, keeping her back straight and her eyes glued to the ground. "I know how to behave at dinner."

"You'd better, precious," Jareth hissed into her ear, before he released her and held out his arm from her to take. Sarah took it with a firm face, but in truth she was terrified. She knew perfectly well that she had not been in the Underground for a week, let alone two years. And atop the etiquette, she had to give a speech on Jareth's behalf to the _Fae Court_. Sarah had never really been a public speaker at school, or at parties, but presenting a school project to the class was nothing compared to speaking to the Fae Court on Jareth's behalf, as the Goblin Queen and Fae Princess.

Sarah tried desperately to shape a short speech in her mind, as Jareth led her down the spiral steps toward the throng of people. The sea of Fae and miscellaneous creatures parted immediately when they spotted Sarah and Jareth approaching, and Sarah watched in shock as the lot of them bowed and curtsied, rather like in an old medieval movie. She tried to ignore them as Jareth was doing, but she couldn't help but flush furiously, and she had to remind herself that she was their Princess now. The mere idea of being Princess to the Fae Court would have thrilled the sixteen-year-old Sarah. She and Jareth entered the Grand Hall, where the two throne-like chairs were empty and waiting for them. On either side of the table were Queen Lavender and King Minos, already seated in their own majestic chairs. Queen Lavender's eyes were locked on Jareth, but King Minos was beaming directly at Sarah, and with a vigorous (and rather un-Kingly motion of the hand) he gestured for Sarah to come and sit next to him. Jareth raised his eyebrows at his father's fondness over Sarah, and Sarah giggled at it and obediently sat down next to the King. The table was littered with expensive-looking white china, edged with gold, and there were several forks and knives of all shapes and sizes. Thankfully— thanks to Irene's strict regimen on dining during the past few years, Sarah knew most of their functions.

Then, with silence and grace and poise, the rest of the court and the guests came in and took their seats, and the chatter immediately began again.

"You look splendid, my child," said King Minos happily.

"Indeed," agreed Jareth with an air of appreciation, and Sarah blushed before she remembered Jareth's earlier threats. Immediately King Minos stood up, and without having to do something like tapping a spoon on a wine glass to get the court's attention, all eyes immediately snapped towards him and the chatter died instantly. With his loud, booming, cheerful voice King Minos addressed the court happily, "My friends of the court and honoured guests, I thank you for coming to this celebration in honour of my son, your Prince."

Sarah's plastered smile faltered ever so slightly when she realized that half the court's eyes were not on the King, but on her. She noticed Jace standing guard in the corner, and when she caught his gaze she smiled at him. He simply nodded his head politely.

"After secretly wedding this beautiful specimen—" Sarah's face reddened considerably and King Minos winked at her, "— my son fell terribly ill for two long years, and due to an unforeseen miracle—" he winked at her again, and Sarah smiled genuinely, "— he has recovered back to the fullest health, and I am truly overjoyed that he is with us here tonight."

There was a tremendous amount of applause, which particularly shocked Sarah; to avoid later punishment she clapped politely and brought back the plastered smile. King Minos beamed at each and every guest before sitting back down in his seat, and Jareth's hand slid onto her back giving her the signal to rise. Horror flooded her insides and all of a sudden her mind went blank— what the hell was she supposed to say to the court of the Fae that King Minos hadn't already said? Obediently she rose, trying hard to think of something as hundreds of shocked and anticipating faces turned to her. She glanced back at Jace standing guard in the corner, and the last week flashed before her eyes. Immediately she straightened up with confidence, took her empty wine goblet and raised it high.

"Rejoice, Underground," she said loudly and clearly, a smile gracing her lips. "The Goblin King is back."

To Jareth's immense surprise, the lot of the guests raised their goblets as well and cheered and clapped, louder than they had when King Minos had finished giving his speech. He felt a surge of appreciation for his wife as she stood proud and tall, still holding the empty goblet, still holding herself with an air of royalty. But as she sat back down, Jareth couldn't help but notice the triumphant smile she held hinted bitterness and secrecy… as if she wasn't exactly happy of his recovery. He shook the thought out of his mind when his mother stood and gave her speech as well, though he didn't pay attention to a single word of it since he was too busy staring at his wife, who was gazing straight ahead of her with the same hard, blazing look.

"And now," Queen Lavender said loudly, breaking Jareth's train of thought. "We dine!"

Sarah gasped as their empty china plates and wine glasses immediately filled with food and drink; each meal was different. Her plate was filled with salad, and in her mind she thanked magic for knowing her vegetarian preferences. Sarah picked up her wine goblet and sipped the blood-red contents hesitantly, recognizing it as wine but not recognizing the specific brand. Back home in the Aboveground, Sarah and Jared had done illegal drinking (who hadn't at their age?) but it hadn't been pristine things like wine and champagne— just bottles of Captain Morgan and Heineken and Bailey's that the sorority sisters on the school campus had handed out.

"Why a salad, dear child?" King Minos asked confusedly, staring down at her plate confusedly.

"I don't eat meat," she explained softly, giving him a smile and ignoring the inquiring look Jareth was giving her.

And for the next quarter of an hour, as Queen Lavender spoke to him about who knows what, Jareth instead listened to Sarah explain about the certain 'Aboveground custom' that some chose to follow called vegetarianism, which seemed to greatly fascinate King Minos, and immediately after Sarah's explanation he swapped his plate (of a strange looking bloody meat that Sarah had been trying her best to avoid looking at lest she run the risk of throwing up) for a salad at once. Instantly after that King Minos bombarded Sarah with questions about the Aboveground. It took all of Jareth's self-control not to laugh at his father's exuberance about stupid things like toasters; it also took all of his self-control not to pull his gaze away from his mother and stare at Sarah with astonishment as his wife spoke and laughed and smiled a smile he'd never once seen her use in his life.

Almost unconsciously he slid his hand onto her thigh, and Sarah's smile was almost ripped from her face at the shock. She had no choice but to brush it off as normal and retain the smile, which had once again become false and plastered. In case Jareth decided to grip her hand, she took her utensils and began to eat her salad, which didn't look particularly appetizing anymore. To her great amusement, King Minos copied her every move precisely, from stabbing the dressing-drenched lettuce with a fork to raising it to her lips to how many times she chewed it. It was something Toby might have done just to be like his big sister.

Once her salad was finished the leftover dressing smudged over the plate vanished, leaving it clean and sparkling again. King Minos finished his own salad immediately, a gob of dressing on the corner of his mouth, and exclaimed, "That was excellent! Perhaps I too will take up vegetable-ism."

Jareth caught this, and while his wife covered her mouth with her hand and giggled uncontrollably, he turned away from his mother and corrected crossly, "Vegetarianism, father. Not vegetable-ism."

"I like vegetable-ism better," said King Minos happily, dabbing his mouth with a cloth napkin and winking at Sarah. "It's easier to remember."

Jareth made a noise of disapproval at his father's immaturity but secretly marvelled at Sarah's laugh, something he'd never truly witnessed. It was tiny and melodic, and when she laughed he couldn't help but notice how her nose bunched up adorably. Jareth's hand, still placed on Sarah's thigh, immediately curled up into a fist when he began to dreamily imagine leading her up to their chambers again and taking her between the silk sheets, perhaps beforehand telling her something witty to make her laugh again…

The dessert course came, and Sarah's now clean plate came up empty. After both Jareth and King Minos gave her curious looks she admitted, "I'm not very hungry."

Neither was Jareth, in fact, and he glanced back at his own plate uninterestedly (which bore a piece of gourmet cake that only seconds ago had looked appealing) but he knew perfectly well that he needed the extra nourishment— being ill for so long had made him far too thin for a Fae, and he needed to keep up his appearance. So slowly and reluctantly he ate, while his wife turned back to his father (who hadn't taken any dessert either) and began to speak to him again, this time about the way the Post Offices worked. Why, his father wanted to know, didn't people just use mail carriers on horseback, or by goblin or flying imp? Sarah explained how they had, years and years ago, but the Post Offices were much faster (and that they didn't have goblins OR flying imps in the Aboveground). And then, just as Jareth finished the last of his cake, King Minos was audibly deciding that he would work on adding a Post Office in the Underground before Queen Lavender shot him a glare and told him 'don't you dare'.

Sarah jumped slightly when King Minos and Queen Lavender both stood, and then Jareth followed. She took that as her cue to stand as well, and the guests waited until she stood before they too got up out of their chairs. Jareth's hand slid from her lap to instead slip into her hand, and Sarah had no choice but to grip his hand back, marvelling at how soft the palm of his glove was. Her legs and arms felt heavy, and she resisted the temptation to rub at her eyes in case Jareth found it un-ladylike and punished her later for it. While the guests all gathered at the entrance and Jareth, King Minos and Queen Lavender wandered over to them and began to greet them all, Sarah slid her hand out of Jareth's (much to his annoyance) walked up to Jace and stifled a yawn behind her hand.

"You are tired?" Jace exclaimed without losing his stiff and proper expression.

"I suppose so," she sighed, rubbing at her eyes (_To hell with Jareth and punishment_, she thought).

"Then you shall retire to our chambers," said Jareth's baritone voice from behind her, causing her to whirl around in alarm. "You needn't greet the guests at this event. There will be others in the coming future; you shall meet them then."

She smiled gratefully and, hesitantly, stood on tiptoe and lightly kissed his lips. It was a kiss with barely any contact, just a light brush of the lips, not at all like the one in the morning that they'd shared, and yet it was enough to make Jareth dizzy on his feet. She pulled back and smiled tentatively, avoided his gaze and whispered, "Good night."

Jace followed her out the door, smirking only when out of sight at Jareth's dumbstruck expression. It was quite amusing to him how Sarah could affect His Majesty without actually having to do anything huge. Jace walked behind her with his arms crossed behind his back, eyes locked on Sarah's back. He found his thoughts wandering around her. She was certainly beautiful, there was no doubt about that… he'd noticed it the second she'd rammed into him in the doorway, how her breasts had momentarily pressed against his lower back. He'd assumed at the time it was just another servant that didn't know her place, but then he'd turned to tell her off and saw her odd attire. He'd been impressed that a woman from the Aboveground had managed to somehow find her way into the Underground, and slightly amused because he'd gotten a great view of most of her breasts down her blouse, the nipples barely hidden by a lacy white bra.

Jace smirked to himself at the memory.

He'd also been slightly surprised when she'd insisted on thanking him, even after she was told not to thank servants… and even more amused when she'd run over to His Majesty's confinement room with the ends of her chocolate locks soaked, clad in nothing but a pale pink nightgown, through which Jace could see the outlines of her nipples, erect from the cold and from rubbing against the fabric. He'd debated getting her a robe, but had decided otherwise when she'd demanded to see His Majesty. During the celebration for the recovery of His Majesty, he'd stood in the corner and watched her every move. He'd watched how she stood and influenced the entire Fae court with a few simple words and a false smile. He'd been taken aback when she'd caught his eye and smiled at him, and he'd nodded his head because that was what he was required to do, even though truthfully he wanted to smile back. He'd watched her smile genuinely and laugh every time the King had made one of his famous strange remarks, and he'd watched how His Majesty Jareth had gawked at her.

Jace suddenly realized that Sarah had stopped walking, and was now two feet behind him. He silently scolded himself for getting lost in his thought, cocked his head to the side and said airily, "Something the matter, princess?"

She lifted her head and smiled at him, the same smile that had stunned him earlier in the Grand Hall, and mumbled, "Nothing really, I'm just wondering what's going to happen."

"This week we are scheduled to repair the Labyrinth," Jace answered, before realizing that she meant in regards to her relationship with His Majesty. But she didn't press the matter in that direction; instead she brightened considerably and, with an excited gleam in her eye, said, "Right."

Jace led her up the gold spiral steps with one hand on her lower back, smirking at her anticipation and at the fact that his hand was just inches from her bottom.

"How are we going to do that?" Sarah asked him, as they approached the room she and Jareth now shared.

"The Labyrinth has already begun to heal itself, princess," Jace replied. "We'll use magic to speed up the process, and we'll have to bring back the banished creatures of course."

Sarah nodded seriously as they stopped at her door. She turned and smiled and Jace again, who had a hard time keeping his composure.

"Could you maybe help me?" she asked. "I don't think I can untie the corset by myself."

"Of course, princess," Jace said briskly, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. Sarah obediently turned her back on him and Jace unzipped the back of her dress from her shoulder blades down to her lower back. He stopped for a minutes when he spotted her hips through the open part of the dress. They were ravishing— small enough not to bulge but curvy enough to complete the look of her figure. Jace immediately tore his eyes away and started slowly untying the knots of her corset. Occasionally his fingers brushed the skin of her back, making her shiver, but she never said a word.

The corset released her torso and Sarah inhaled deeply, relishing every proper breath she took, knowing full well she wouldn't have much time to breathe freely until she had to put the corset on again.

Jace finished off the last of the knots and Sarah gripped the edge of the dress before it fell.

"Thank you Jace," she said, at which he nodded his head. "Goodnight."

Jace stepped out of the room quickly and she closed the door behind her. Jace leaned against the wall, his brows knitted together with irritability. He was extremely hot and bothered, particularly below his waist. Pictures of Sarah undressing, the silky gown in a pool at her feet, became one torturing erotica after another. He left quickly before His Majesty could appear and get the wrong idea (or the right idea).

* * *

Jareth stormed down the hall and up the steps, his temper at a dangerous level. He'd been upset when she had left with Jace, but greeting the guests had only made things worse. His mother had scolded him in front of the damn _Fae Council _because of his dull tone every time he'd granted them the pleasure of a simple "Hello, thank you for coming," as if he'd been but a three-year-old boy who didn't know his place. And one particular comment Jareth had overhead as the crowd departed had made him furious.

"The Princess certainly is an odd one. She looked terribly out of place next to the High King and Queen and Prince, don't you agree?"

They were just lucky, though Jareth bitterly, that he hadn't found out who'd said the comment, because they would have certainly ended up headfirst into the Bog of Eternal Stench.

That wasn't even the end of it. Ever since he'd put Sarah in that dress, he'd wanted desperately to take her out of it. But now, he realized, he could, because the stupid Fae Council and whoever the hell else came were gone, and Sarah was in his room now, probably undressing right at this very moment…

Jareth opened the door and stared blankly at his wife who was snuggled underneath the violet silk sheets in a thin nightgown.

Asleep.

Jareth let out an audible, very irritated sigh and glared crossly at the sleeping woman, wondering whether or not to wake her just to relieve the pressure in his loins. He decided otherwise when she rolled over and whispered something unintelligible in her sleep, softening his anger slightly. Sighing again, he changed into his nightclothes and stepped into the bathroom, his skinny stature reflecting a billion times in the several mirrors. The past two years of illness showed his ribs prominently, and his arms had lost their muscle and were now thin and weak.

Tomorrow, he decided, he would set aside his court duties and regain his original build. Perhaps magic would help.

He tore his eyes away from his horrid figure and approached the bed eagerly.

**A/N: and this is the end of the special package (i've started chapter five but im not done, so stay tuned!) whatever will become of Jareth and Sarah?**

**... pfft Ludo eating rocks XD and Didymus yelling at a bee. weird image, right?**


	5. Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child

**A/N: warning, this scene contains a little lemon ;)**

Chapter 5

Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child

Sarah woke with a helpless cry at the crack of dawn, her entire body covered with a sheet of sweat. Last night's dream of Jareth had been particularly intense; she and him were in the Grand Hall, which was completely empty of tables and chairs, and he was making furious love to her in the corner. She'd been close to an orgasm before she'd woken. Shaking, Sarah sat up and realized that Jareth was next to her; his bare chest gleamed in the blossoming sunlight and his brows were furrowed together as he slept. She immediately laid back down again, heart beating wildly, praying to God that he wasn't naked, and that if he was this was just another dream. She risked a peek underneath the sheets, and was relieved to see him in night pants that resembled jogging pants from the Aboveground. She couldn't help but notice how prominent his ribs were, and she had the strangest urge to run her hands over them. Sarah rolled over again, doing her best not to jostle the sleeping Goblin King next to her, and tried to fall asleep again, but she found herself awake and alert. Instead she lost herself in her thoughts, daydreaming languorously of the Aboveground, of college and Jared, and of Toby. She wished now more than ever that she'd seen him more often than she had, because she'd definitely owed it to the little guy. Sarah wondered what Irene, Robert and Toby were doing, and how they'd reacted to her sudden disappearance from her room. It had already been nearly a week and a half since she'd come back to the Underground, but it felt like years ago since she'd last hung out with Jared at Subway or taken Toby and Merlin to the park.

It was midmorning when Sarah woke a second time from her dreamless sleep. She sat up and blinked a couple of times at the sudden change of light — from the pale glow of dusk to the brightness of morning — before realizing she'd fallen asleep while daydreaming. Jareth sighed next to her, and she flushed but didn't look at him, knowing full well he was awake.

"Precious, you are beautiful in the morning," he said, a smirk clear on his voice.

Sarah wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that, so instead she stayed silent and avoided his gaze. Not wavered, Jareth sat up and slipped his arms around her waist and kissed the base of her neck. Sarah shuddered underneath his mouth and went to pull away, but she stopped herself just in time and reminded herself that she was his wife.

The reminder made her sick to her stomach.

She became slightly fascinated by his hands, which for the first time weren't glove-clad. His fingers were long and elegantly carved, rather like a pianist's hands, and Sarah wondered that if she felt them, would they be soft?

"What's going to happen today?" Sarah said just to break the silence.

"Well," he said on an exhale, his breath rolling down her neck and making her shiver again. "I have a lot of work to do for the Fae Kingdom. My illness has left me quite a lot of work to catch up on."

"What do you all day?" Sarah asked curiously, wondering what problems the kingdom could possibly have that couldn't be settled with magic.

"That, precious, is tedious to explain," Jareth answered simply, releasing her and shoving the covers off. "I also need to regain my strength."

Sarah glanced quickly at his ribs again before staring at her hands firmly, hoping he hadn't noticed. "What am I to do?"

"I shall get Jace to think of something," said Jareth, before piercing her with a stare. "You and he seemed to be closely acquainted anyway."

Sarah whirled her head around to stare at him with eyes wide and jaw dropped. Was he _jealous_? Sarah tried to look away, but his intimidating gaze padlocked her own.

"Jace is a friend," she said hurriedly, feeling her cheeks catch flame immediately.

"He should not even be that," said Jareth briskly, opening his dresser. "He should be nothing more than a servant to you."

"Unlike you, I wasn't brought up to be served," Sarah said huffily, crossing her arms. "I was raised to think of anyone and everyone as my equal, regardless of what colour, nationality or _rank_ they are."

"You should think otherwise," Jareth said, abandoning his digging through the dresser to send her another piercing look. "I can't have you flouncing around the castle befriending every servant there is— you might be tempted to get too close."

Sarah felt fury flare up in her chest. "Well, I would think you'd have a little more trust in me, since despite being ill for two years I never left you."

He paused and cocked his head to the side, staring at his wife who had her head turned away indignantly. Without getting anything from the dresser he closed it, slid back onto the bed, leaned over and kissed her neck a second time.

"You're right," he purred. "Do you forgive me?"

Sarah bit her lip, pretending to consider it before saying bluntly, "No," and slipping out of the bed.

"Where are you going?" Jareth said amusedly, watching her as she headed for the door.

"I'm going to find the 'servant' that you believe I'm cheating on you with," she said brusquely.

"You may want to change out of your nightgown first, precious," he smirked, and she looked down curiously at her attire.

"Right," Sarah said, and Jareth immediately got out of the bed and opened her wardrobe, and again it produced but one dress and accessories. This dress was different from last night's— it was the colour of hazelnut coffee cream (though it hadn't failed to make the bodice as low-cut and revealing as possible again) and had an underskirt to match, along with a pair of lacy panties, a violet ribbon, a second corset and a pair of egg-white slippers.

"Do you have to dress me a second time?" she said shyly, when he scooped up the outfit and its accessories and plopped them on the enormous bed.

"Yes, and I will do so every morning hence here forth," Jareth said briskly. "And occasionally nights, if we retire to our bed at the same time."

Sarah stood rigid as Jareth pulled the straps of her nightgown slowly. She realized with a stab of horror that she was wearing nothing but a thin lacy bra, and Jareth soon discovered that when the nightgown pooled around her feet.

"Such a body you have, dearest," he growled, and without warning his hands came to life and slid in opposite directions— one up her shirt, the other down to her naval. Sarah's mouth flew open to tell him to stop, but before she could utter a sound two fingers slid into her folds and rubbed hard over sensitive nerves, and instead she cried out.

This had to be another one of her erotic dreams; this could not be real… because here she was, with Jareth hands gently squeezing her breast and rubbing her clit, and she was just standing there, letting him touch her.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried desperately to wake up as one of Jareth's talented fingers slipped into her, first probing her entrance teasingly before rubbing against her walls vigorously and hitting all the right spots to make her spasm and whimper and burn with ecstasy. His mouth found her neck and he nibbled insistently on just the right spot, and Sarah realized as her breaths shortened that no, this was not a dream. And unlike her dreams, it would hurt like hell if Jareth decided to take her now.

"So much… for dressing me…" Sarah managed to say, before the guttural moan she'd been holding back escaped from her throat as Jareth bent the finger inside of her. "You can't… even refrain from… touching me."

"And you cannot refrain from enjoying it," Jareth hissed, raising his head to instead nibble and suck at her earlobe. "I'm not particularly complaining."

The hand on her breast changed position, so that his thumb was pressed against her already strained nipple, and Sarah moaned a second time as his thumb rubbed hard on the nipple.

"Do you like that?" he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. "_Mrs_. Goblin King?"

Sarah wasn't sure of the answer herself— she knew full well from the ache in her belly and the constant rushes between her legs that her body loved it, but _Mrs_. Goblin King's mind had a different answer. Her mind was telling her 'get the hell off and don't ever touch me again'.

When Jareth rubbed both her nipple and her clit a second time each, Sarah let out a half-moan half-sigh that must have sounded like, "Yeah," because Jareth chuckled in her ear and murmured, "Good."

Both of his hands withdrew from her body to turn her around, and he held her for the briefest moment as she leaned into him, struggling to regain the strength Jareth's fingers had robbed from her. Jareth had no complaints about this; he rather enjoyed holding her this way, with his thinned arms curved around her waist and his hands gripping her bottom, her breasts pushed up against his chest, her head nestled into his shoulder and her womanhood pressed against his erect length, which also had no complaints.

"Forgive me now?" he purred, lips pressed against her ear.

She seemed unable to speculate, let alone string two words together, so instead she nodded her head into the crook of his neck.

"Good," he repeated, turning away from her to reach for the rather lanky pair of panties. The other hand slid from her bottom to her thigh, slowly slipping the panties on the first leg, then the other. He turned away again briefly to grab the thin underskirt, holding them out for her to step into. All the while she kept her head down, but Jareth could see her cheeks flaming red, and he couldn't help but wonder why she, his wife was embarrassed by him, her husband, dressing her. Perhaps, he wondered as he reached for the corset, it was because she'd been married to him for two years and hadn't once been touched by him. Perhaps, he mused as he tied the corset, it was because she'd never been touched at all. He'd married her before he fell ill… and, he realized with a jolt in his stomach, he didn't remember the wedding. He glanced down at his wife, wondering whether or not to tell her this, but decided otherwise when she glanced up at him with an innocent look and reddened cheeks.

_Damn it, those cruel eyes…_

"Are you going to keep dressing me, or are you going to keep staring off into space?" Sarah whispered, smiling a little.

"Neither, if you continue looking at me with that face," Jareth muttered, tearing his eyes away to grab the dress.

Shock flooded his system when he heard her melodic laugh for the second time, and he stared down at her with wide eyes. The shock was immediately replaced by triumph; he'd succeeded in making her laugh. He wanted to try and make her laugh again, but instead he forced himself to gently tug the dress over Sarah's head and zip it up, knowing that they both had things to do. Then he took the ribbon, gathered her thick chocolate locks and tied them up into another elegant bun. Sarah immediately left his side to grab the slippers and put them on.

"What are you doing, precious?" Jareth said confusedly, when she stared toward the door.

"I thought you said I should find Jace," she said, just as confusedly.

"Aren't you going to undress me?" he smirked. Sarah gave him an irritated look, at which he couldn't help but laugh. Now it was Sarah's turn to admire his laugh: it was deep, amused and in the beautiful baritone that was Jareth's voice.

"Wait," he called, as she started out the door. "I didn't get my morning kiss."

"Actually you got a lot more than that," Sarah replied rather embarrassedly, leaning in the doorway and trying to shove away the remembrance of his fingers rubbing inside of her.

"Indeed," he agreed, but still beckoned stubbornly for her to come back to his side. "But I am a selfish man, Sarah, and I always get what I want."

Truthfully, Sarah didn't want to kiss him again, but she knew she had no choice if she wanted Jareth to continue believing that she'd married him all those years ago for love, so she obediently stepped back into the room. He slipped his arms around her again, leaned down slowly and gently kissed her lips. Unlike the first kiss, Sarah thought, this one wasn't revolting, and it didn't make her want to pull away. It was sweet and placid, and Sarah couldn't help but marvel at how soft his lips were.

"Are you coming to breakfast, dearest?" he murmured against her mouth.

"No," she mumbled, flushing and ignoring the temptation to turn her head away. "I usually skip breakfast."

"It seems you eat so little, yet you retain such a figure without ending up too thin," Jareth noted, pulling away to dig in his dresser again. "Very well, I shall see you at lunchtime then."

"Okay," Sarah said before hurrying out of the room, not allowing him to add in another word. She rushed down the golden spiral stairs, struggling to run with the corset, hoping to run into Jace soon. Perhaps she'd find Hoggle back from his journey from the Rock Caller Kingdom, and maybe he'd brought Didymus and Ludo. Sarah stopped at the last step, hoping, praying, that this was the case so that she could tell them both how sorry she was for not calling upon them.

Her thoughts strayed back to Jareth. His behaviour was erratic, she noticed; the previous night he'd been teasing and amused, the next second he'd been threatening her with punishment, and then he'd reverted to watching her out of the corner of his eye (she hadn't been sure if he'd been admiring her, or watching to see if she'd behave. Perhaps both.) Then in the morning he'd gone back to teasing her with sexual comments and kisses. Sarah knew better than to let her guard down— Jareth had a temper, and soon he wouldn't just be threatening to punish her, he'd be actually punishing her.

"Something the matter with the stairs, princess?" called Jace's airy-fairy voice from around the corner, and he emerged with eyebrows raised.

"Not at all," she said with a smile. "I was just thinking."

Jace said nothing more, but instead his eyes trailed over her figure. Once again, the magical wardrobe he had prearranged for the princess hadn't failed to produce another dress to make her look ravishing— or, he noticed, to make her breasts more prominent that ever. He did not bother to try to stop looking upon Sarah with such a favour, for though she was married to the Goblin King and Fae Prince, Jace knew that she did not love him at all.

"What exactly am I supposed to do today, Jace?" Sarah said confusedly, stepping off the staircase and taking a place at his side. "It seems like the _Fae Prince_ does all the work while the _Fae Princess _just sits around doing nothing all day."

"Females of royalty do not involve themselves in kingdom affairs," Jace explained briskly. "They attend social gatherings and council meetings, and try for children."

"That's repression against females," Sarah said irritably, crossing her arms. "We're not all just factories for children."

At this, Jace smirked. "Interesting way to put it, princess."

"In the Aboveground, female oppression is history," Sarah continued. "Now, everyone is seen as an equal."

She suddenly blinked, turned around and gripped Jace's arm. "Jace, could I… could I maybe go visit the Aboveground?"

Jace hated the look he was getting: her green eyes, like pools of hope, were wide and looking up at him with anticipation.

"No, princess," he sighed, tearing his eyes away to instead look at a tapestry on the wall. "If we did, His Majesty would know immediately, and he would monitor your entire visit. We cannot risk him finding out the truth."

Her eyes dropped to the floor and her hand slid off of his arm sadly. "Oh."

Her sadness didn't last long; six seconds later she was looking up at him again with the same look of anticipation. "Then show me the Underground."

"The Underground is a dangerous place, princess," Jace said. "You shan't see all of it."

"Okay, then show me only the good places," she said, her eyes twinkling excitedly.

"Certainly," he said. "Where would you like to go first?"

"Anywhere, take me anywhere."

Jace almost smirked; 'anywhere, take me anywhere' sounded particularly sexual to him. With a wave of his hand the two of them disappeared out of the castle and onto the sandy beach of a lake. Sarah gasped out when she managed to take in the entire scenery— there was the calm lake, the beach, and behind her was the rolling green hills.

"I've been here before," she gaped, spinning around to get a 360-degree view.

"Then we shall go to another place," Jace said, raising his hand.

"No, I mean, I've dreamt about this place," Sarah said, staring at him with brows knitted together confusedly. "I don't understand it. How could I dream of a place that actually exists, when I haven't seen anything in the Underground other than the Labyrinth and Jareth's castle?"

"Perhaps you have been here, but you had forgotten," Jace suggested. "And your dreams resurfaced the memory."

Sarah shrugged, struggling to remember the dream. She could remember Jareth walking toward her with a serene smile on his mouth, and she had been in a white dress…

Sarah glanced down at her own dress, which was similar to the one in her dream but not entirely the same, and then she glanced at Jace, who was not walking toward her with the intent on making love to her but instead was staring at her with his usual calmed look.

"What is this place anyway?" Sarah said, trying to push the erotic dream out of her head.

"This is Wixiban's lake," Jace explained. "It is on the outskirts of the Fae Kingdom, close to the Syren Kingdom. Do not touch the water of the lake," he added in a warning undertone. "It is called Wixiban's lake after the kelpie that lives in the lake. He can only attack when your flesh has touched the water."

"A kelpie?" Sarah said in awe, craning her neck to try and catch a glimpse of something. "What's a kelpie?"

"It is a water horse," Jace replied. "In water, it can be either a man or a horse, but on land it can only be a horse, and can do no harm."

"Can I meet Wixiban?" Sarah asked, smiling at the lake as if the lake itself could smile back at her.

"No, princess, unless your version of a meeting is to get dragged into the lake and strangled."

"I won't go into the lake, of course, I'll stay on land."

"Very well, princess."

Sarah smiled triumphantly. "How do we get him to come?"

"Call him."

Sarah said tentatively, "Wixiban, please come," skimmed her eyes over the lake, searching for a bobbing head or something that would indicate Wixiban had heard her. She nearly screamed when a man's head poked out of the water nearest to the shore. Wixiban had beautiful brown eyes and his hair was a nautical deep green, like seaweed. From what Sarah could tell, he was entirely naked, but to her great relief the dark water kept his lower regions hidden from view.

"Hello," he greeted, grinning at the two of them. His teeth were very sharp and pointed, reminding Sarah of Jareth's teeth. "Would you like to come for a swim?"

"I'm afraid not, Wixiban," Sarah said with a smile. "For you see, I haven't brought any swimwear, and I'd prefer not to die."

Wixiban's grin grew bigger and he shrugged. "You can't blame me for trying. What do you want?"

"I wanted to meet you," Sarah said bluntly.

"Don't usually get much visitors," Wixiban said. "What's your name?"

"My name is Sarah."

Wixiban cocked his head to the side and said, "I've heard of you. You're the new Fae Princess, and the Queen of Goblins, right?"

Sarah nodded and said, "Who told you that?"

"A little birdie," he replied with a grin, wading in closer to them. "Birdie told me that Kingy over there in the Fae Kingdom had been sick for two whole years, right after the two of you were married. Then I ate Birdie," Wixiban added with a smile of bliss.

"Wow," said Sarah, eyebrows raised. "I think I've heard enough. Goodbye, Wixiban."

"Please," he said with an evil grin. "Call me Wix."

He outstretched his water-soaked hand for her to shake, brown eyes flashing.

"Nice try, Wix," Sarah said with a smile, and his hand and the rest of him sank back into the water.

"Where to now, princess?" Jace asked airily, watching the ripples from where Wixiban had submerged.

"How about somewhere than doesn't have kelpies?" Sarah giggled. "Or fairies. They bite."

Jace smirked at this comment (he'd heard from the dwarf of Her Majesty's first encounter with fairies) and with a wave of his hand Wixiban's lake disappeared and was replaced by a very dense, very green forest. Sarah blinked vigorously; she had never seen so much green in her life.

"Where are we now?" she asked.

"This is a forest in the Elfin Kingdom," Jace explained calmly. "Come, princess."

Just to amuse himself, and because His Majesty was not there to see it, he took her hand and led her down a tiny hill. Sarah could see a well made of stone in the centre of a clearing, filled to the brim with crystal clear water.

"What is that?" Sarah gaped, wondering why there was an old well in the middle of a vast forest.

"The Well of Penitence," Jace replied, as they approached the old well. "Submerge your face in its waters and you will see your deepest regrets."

Sarah boldly stepped forward, already thinking of her regrets: marrying Jareth, for instance. Slowly and cautiously, she leaned forward and put her face in the water. It felt almost as if there were no water, but merely cool air, for Sarah could breathe despite her nose and mouth being submerged. She opened her eyes, expecting to see the bottom of the well, but instead she saw herself, with her music box raised in her hand. She gasped out when she saw herself fling it at the mirror, which did not break but instead cracked from side to side. She saw herself panting from rage.

Then the scene changed with a ripple and she was sixteen again, yelling at Toby to be quiet and threatening to say the words to make the Goblins take him away. She watched herself put Toby back in his crib, shove the covers back onto him rather roughly, turn off the light and say angrily, "I wish the Goblin would come and take you away. Right now."

The scene changed a third time, and she was standing on the floating ruins, desperately trying to remember the final words while Jareth attempted to seduce her with promises of love and dreams. And then her former self raised in her head with eyes wide and said breathily, "You have no power over me," and Sarah saw that his face fell and his arm fly up to throw the crystal ball into the air.

Then the ruins of the Labyrinth replaced Jareth's devastation, and Sarah could see herself crying and holding Hoggle's hand.

Sarah stumbled back and nearly fell, but Jace caught her quickly before she could tumble to the ground.

"Whoa," was all she could say. Amazingly, marrying Jareth hadn't showed up on the list— apparently she didn't regret that, she regretted rejecting him in the first place. But, she thought, this made sense, because if she hadn't rejected him he wouldn't have gone insane, and the Labyrinth wouldn't have been destroyed.

"Why is it so dark all of a sudden?" Sarah wondered aloud, realizing that the sun was lower in the sky than it had been when they'd met Wixiban.

"You must have a lot of regrets, princess," Jace replied smoothly. "I could not pull you out of the well for a while. It's very nearly evening."

"Oh wow," she said in awe. "Sorry, Jace, to make you wait all this time."

Jace's calm expression was blanched out by shock again, and Sarah sighed, "Let me guess, princesses don't normally apologize to their servants either?"

Jace shook his head, and then his astonishment doubled when Sarah hugged his waist tightly. "Well, you're more than a servant to me; you're my friend. So there."

At first he was dumbstruck, and unsure what to do other than stay rigid and stare down at the top of her head. Then, slowly, the corners of his mouth curled up uncontrollably and he gently hugged her as well, noting how her hair smelled like sugared strawberries and honey.

"We must go, princess," Jace said, resisting the urge to kiss the top of her head. "You have missed both breakfast and lunch."

"You're right," she said, sighing. "I'm not really hungry though."

"How so?"

"I didn't eat much when I was living in the Aboveground anyway. I had too much work to do for college." Then she remembered Jareth's final words to her and she groaned. "Oh damn it, I was supposed to have lunch with Jareth! He's going to kill me."

"We must make haste then."

Jace reluctantly released her to instead wave his hand, and they appeared inside an empty Grand Hall. She hurried out with Jace on her tail, his eyes glued to her back.

Damn it, he thought. He was attracted to her, and for a man like him, this was not good. He was a servant, and she was Queen of the Goblins and the Fae Princess. She was married to the Goblin King, and Jace since was partner he instead made love to women he was attracted to. But he couldn't possibly even _think _of taking Sarah— if they ever did decide to have a sexual relationship, and they were found out, Jace would be executed and Sarah would be stripped of her title, most likely sent to a dungeon, and His Majesty would go mad again. There were too many serious repercussions.

Besides, he mused bitterly, she wouldn't want him anyway. Jace knew she was the kind of person to stay faithful to her husband, even if she did not love him.

"What do you think the exact time is, Jace?" Sarah asked worriedly, breaking his train of thought.

"Four-thirty, perhaps five," Jace answered, at which Sarah groaned a second time and quickened her pace.

Sarah wondered where Jareth could be, and what he could be doing. A weird mental image of Jareth standing outside their bedroom tapping his foot impatiently flashed through her brain.

And then immediately, when she turned the corner to enter the bedroom (Jace stopped hastily at the door) she rammed into Jareth.

At first she stared blankly up at him, drinking in his stone hard expression. She couldn't tell what he was thinking— his eyes were totally void of emotion. She tried to find her voice.

"I… ah…" came out of her mouth stupidly. Jareth walked over to her swiftly, still wearing that hard, blazing look on his face, grabbed her shoulders and pinned her to the wall. Fear flooded her insides immediately as his hands began digging into her arms.

"Explain your absence at lunch, precious," Jareth hissed in her ear. "And you'd better have a damn good reason."

She winced, "You're hurting me."

He ignored her and gripped her even tighter. "Answer the question immediately!"

"I lost track of time," Sarah gasped out, her eyes starting to water from the pain. "Please—"

"What were you doing that was so important?" he snarled, and now Sarah could see full-out fury reflected in his eyes. It frightened her.

"I… I was at the Well of Penitence," she stammered.

He studied her. "Did you go with the servant?"

Sarah didn't know what he meant by 'servant' until it hit her: Jace. She already knew _she _was in trouble, and she was his wife— if Jareth knew Jace was the one who took her there in the first place, what would Jareth do to him?

"N-no," she said, and then cried out in pain as he squeezed her even tighter.

"That is a lie," Jareth snapped, before his cruel eyes sought out Jace standing in the doorway. "You. Get in here."

He quickly released her and Sarah rubbed her shoulders quickly, relieved that he'd let go, but her relief was short-lived.

"Where did you two go exactly?" Jareth demanded, grabbing Jace by the collar. Sarah opened her mouth to protest, but Jace quickly silenced her with a wave.

"First we went to Wixiban's Lake," Jace said calmly. "And then Her Majesty put her face in the Well of Penitence. I attempted to pull her out, but it took hours until—"

"You took her to _Wixiban's Lake_?" Jareth suddenly shouted, lifting Jace up with ease and slamming him against the wall. "_Do you know not of the man-eating kelpie that dwells in the lake? She could have been killed_!"

"Don't!" Sarah wailed, and when Jace shot at her a look of warning she quickly added, "Jace made sure I stayed on land and didn't touch a drop of the water—"

"Silence," Jareth shot at her, and she stood there, stunned at how Jareth was acting.

And then Jareth, still holding Jace by the collar, with one swift movement of his arm threw Jace across the room. Sarah screamed as Jace crashed into the end table and crumpled to a heap on the floor. Jareth waved his hand and a silvery riding crop appeared in his hand. Sarah stared at the crop in horror; the tip was sharp and looked more like a needle.

Was Jareth going to use this on her?

Instead, Jareth approached Jace, who was struggling to rise to his feet again. Jareth turned to face her, his eyes flashing maliciously.

"You shall be punished by watching his punishment," he said, and Sarah knew what he was going to do before he raised the crop and snapped it down on Jace's back.

Jace's scream seemed to rattle her bones; his shirt was ripped open and Sarah could see it slowly starting to stain red. Jareth raised his arm again and brought it down a second time, and this time Sarah could see it shred open the shirt again, see it split open his skin, see the blood oozing down his back.

"NO!" Sarah shouted, finding her voice. Jareth ignored her and brought it down a third time, then a fourth, sixth, eighth time, until Jace's voice had gotten hoarse from screaming and he was trying to cringe away from the whips.

"NO, PLEASE!" Sarah wailed, grabbing Jareth's arm. "NOT JACE, IT'S NOT HIS FAULT—"

"Shut up," Jareth snarled, pushing her off of him and bringing the crop down on Jace a tenth time. Sarah fell to the ground, but quickly scrambled up again. Angry tears welled up in her eyes— this monster was her husband, and he was whipping her best friend, telling her to shut up, pushing her down…

"YOU'RE SICK!" Sarah screamed, as loud as she could. "YOU'RE EVIL!"

Jareth whirled around and struck her, hard. He hit her squarely on the right eye, making her stumble back and crash against the dresser.

"That is for lying to me," he said stoutly.

Sarah's head was spinning; she couldn't understand what had happened, so she simply stayed on all fours on the ground. Then slowly, tentatively, she brought a hand up to the stinging part of her face, touching it as if to prove Jareth hadn't hit her skin off. Then, just as slowly, she crawled over to Jace, who was wincing ever so quietly, and knelt over him.

"Shh," she hushed soothingly, lifting him up gently and placing his head on the soft crook of her breasts. Her gown was slowly dampening and staining from the blood seeping from Jace's wounds. She gently slid off his tattered shirt, careful not to brush his wounds. "There now, Jace, it's okay…"

Jareth couldn't believe it. Sarah truly had grown up— if she was sixteen, she would have thrown an absolute tantrum over his hitting her. But she'd completely ignored it to help Jace, a mere _servant_, who'd taken her to one of the most dangerous places in the Fae Kingdom.

Sarah slowly rose, taking Jace with her in her arms, and she stepped past Jareth as if he weren't even there to exit the room.

"Jace, where's the infirmary?" Sarah whispered in his ear, as they started down the hall.

"Th-third f-floor," Jace stammered. "P-princess…"

"Hush Jace, don't talk unless you have to."

"But, His M-Majesty h-hit you—"

"Quiet Jace, that's an order."

Amazingly, he quieted down immediately as they struggled down two flights of golden spiral staircases. Blood dripped onto the stone floor, making a trail. Sarah pulled him down the hall, the place where Jareth had punched her starting to throb painfully, and Jace raised one shaking arm to point her to a door at the far end of the hall.

The first thing she noticed when she walked into the infirmary was that it was rather small for a castle infirmary. There were only four beds in the entire room, all with white linen sheets, and in the corner was a child with sandy hair in a white lab coat.

"Get the court physician!" Sarah wailed to him, when Jace suddenly sagged against her and she realized he was unconscious.

"I am the court physician, Milady," said the child sharply, running over to aid her in helping Jace onto one of the beds.

"Forgive me," Sarah said quickly, remembering that there had been children at Jareth's banquet as well.

"No offence taken, Milady, I am Elfin," he said with an adorable, dimpled smile as he hurried over to get a giant black and white box. "We all look like children. My name is Korrigan. Did His Majesty whip Jace again?"

"Again?" Sarah echoed in horror. "He's done it before?"

"Prncss…" came from Jace's mouth, his voice contorted with pain. Sarah turned her attention from the child physician back to Jace, whose eyes were opened just a slit.

"I'm here Jace," Sarah said in a gentle tone. "Dr. Korrigan is going to help."

Immediately Korrigan waddled back over clutching a wet cloth and what appeared to be an enormous mint leaf. Sarah watched as Korrigan cleaned off the blood that had stained Jace's entire back. There she could see shiny scars of past whips, and the raw fury she'd already developed for Jareth seemed to double.

She then noticed Korrigan studying her face. "He hit you?"

"It's not important," Sarah said quickly. "Focus on Jace."

Korrigan obediently turned back to Jace and trailed the mint leaf over his back. Sarah watched in awe, as the skin seemed to heal over the open wounds as if the wound were three or four days old.

"How does it feel to finally know the man you married?" Korrigan asked. At first she was stunned at the blunt question, but it made her feel like she was more than just a queen to Korrigan. Tentatively, she brought a hand to her stinging eye.

"I… I've never been hit before," she mumbled, sitting down on the bed next to Jace's.

"You're a very strong woman, Milady," Korrigan complimented, and Sarah blushed. "You certainly can take a punch."

Korrigan squeezed the leaf over Jace's mouth, and from it three drops of yellowish liquid dripped down Jace's throat. His eyes immediately closed, and Korrigan rolled him onto his back.

"Sleeping draught," Korrigan explained, noticing her inquiring look. "Now, let's get rid of that bruise."

"No," Sarah said coldly. "I want everyone to see what Jareth did."

Korrigan shrugged. "Would you also like some sleeping draught?"

Sarah nodded, and she obediently laid back and opened her mouth as Korrigan came to her with the mint leaf and squeezed two more drops into her own mouth. She was marvelling how it tasted like peppermint gum before she blacked out.

**A/N: wow, long chapter :/ so, what did you think of my first 'dark jareth'?**


	6. The Goblin Queen's Duty

Chapter 6

The Goblin Queen's Duty

**A/N: Warning: this chapter has sex. dont like, dont read**

Sarah woke what seemed like seconds after she'd fallen asleep, the place where Jareth had hit stinging. But as she sat up and rubbed at her eyes, she realized from the sound of chirping birds, the damp smell of rain and the dim sunlight, that it was morning. She turned her head and saw Jace still sleeping. Sarah couldn't help but smile a little— she'd never seen Jace without his statuesque manner and composed expression. But now he was curled up in the white sheets, lying slightly on his stomach, with his caramel-coloured hair messy and unkempt.

"Morning, Milady," said Korrigan's tiny voice from behind her, and she turned to see the elf walk through the infirmary doors clutching a clipboard.

"Good morning, Korrigan," Sarah smiled. "It feel like I only fell asleep seconds ago."

"It was a draught for a dreamless sleep," Korrigan explained, returning her smile.

_Well at least it prevented another erotic dream._

"Are you sure you don't want to get rid of that bruise? It must hurt by now."

"It does," Sarah admitted. "But I'm keeping it. Maybe Jareth will take the hint," she added coolly.

"You had no idea what you were in for when you signed up to be his wife," Korrigan said knowingly. "You must have been as insane as he was."

Sarah's jaw dropped, and he smirked, "I may look like a child to you, but in reality I'm an adult and fully trustworthy."

"Forgive me, really," she said, feeling guilty.

"You didn't know," Korrigan said, patting her knee comfortingly before turning back to his clipboard.

She hadn't known…

Last night's events finally hit her properly. Sarah had finally seen Jareth's true side: menacing, angry… violent. Sarah felt anger swell up inside her chest; how dare he whip a man half to death, and then strike her. She was his _wife_, for God's sake! If Sarah hadn't seen what her rejecting him had done to him, she wouldn't have believed that Jareth loved her one bit.

Korrigan was right— she hadn't known what she was signing up for.

Jace suddenly bounded upward with a gasp, startling her. He took in his surroundings for two heart-pounding seconds, before he finally relaxed a little. Then he spotted Sarah sitting on the bed next to him, and his face slackened.

"Are you in pain?" Sarah said quietly.

He shook his head. Unconsciously Jace's hand reached out and lightly brushed over the purple bruise under her eye. Sarah smiled at him, sending him a silent message that everything was all right.

"It's fine Jace," she said. "Really."

Jace wanted to hug her and cry and tell her he was sorry he'd made His Majesty hit her, but his pride overcame the temptation and instead he lowered his hand and looked at the ground sourly.

"Thank you, Physician," he said instead, not looking at either of them.

"For God's sake, Jace, if you're not going to apologize at least acknowledge that she's talking to you," Korrigan said exasperatedly, making Jace look up in alarm and Sarah knit her eyebrows in confusion.

"Hey Jace, can we fix the Labyrinth today?" Sarah asked excitedly, her emerald eyes twinkling.

Jace couldn't help but smile a little at the anticipation on her face. "We must make sure His Majesty isn't monitoring our activity. If not, then we shall today."

Sarah let out an excited, "Yay!" and bounded off the bed immediately. She then grinned hugely at Korrigan and said, "Thank you for taking care of Jace."

"It's my job, Milady," he said gallantly, taking her hand and kissing her hand. Sarah giggled; it felt rather like when Toby had watched that King Arthur movie with Keira Knightley and tried to emulate on Sarah King Arthur's kissing Guinevere on the hand.

Thinking of Toby made her smile falter for a moment, but then she shoved the thought out of her mind and turned to Jace. "You might want to put a shirt on first."

* * *

Jareth stormed down two flights of golden spiral steps, his brows knitted together in both irritation and concern. Irritated, because Sarah had disobeyed him by missing lunch and lying to him and concern, because she hadn't returned that night from taking that stupid _servant _to the infirmary. He tried not to imagine them together in the infirmary, perhaps even sharing a bed, but the image pounded through the walls he'd put up in his brain and he swelled up with jealousy anyway.

His Sarah had claimed to be in the Underground for two years, so why would she not know that every wrong deed requires punishment? Jace had taken her to _Wixiban's Lake, _for the love of God, where that damned kelpie floats around dragging every man and woman in sight to the depths.

True, he'd been irritated that she'd missed lunch (to spend time with the servant, which had also spiked his anger), but he'd been completely livid when he found out she'd missed lunch just to go to such a dangerous place. He'd lost a good number of servants to that stupid kelpie.

As he rounded the corner, he heard Sarah's laugh again, and it made him stop in his tracks. Then it hit him— why was she laughing? He'd just struck her and whipped her 'friend', as she'd called him. Jareth felt the corners of his mouth twitching upward; nobody from the Aboveground but his Sarah was strong enough to take a hit from her husband and be able to still smile, let alone laugh, the next day.

His amusement evaporated when he heard Jace's voice reply, "Yes princess," to whatever the hell she'd asked him and laughed about, and he found it about the right time to step around the corner.

The first thing he noticed was that she still bore an enormous blue bruise on the right side of her face. She'd been in the damned infirmary all night— why couldn't she have gotten that Elfin physician to heal it? Unless… she _wanted _him to see. Unless she wanted to wear it like a trophy, to prove that she could take his punishments with stride.

That angered him.

Sarah's smile immediately died off her face, and Jace showed a flicker of tenseness before he obediently bowed before his King.

_Good, at least someone knows their place._

Jareth stared down coldly at Jace, who merely watched him with calm eyes. Sarah was staring at him, hard, was a blank expression and a blazing look in her eye. Jareth hated that damned look— it was the one she'd given him twice before, when she'd first spoken to him after his two years of illness, and when she'd returned late the previous night. But this one was a little different… it must be the look behind her eyes… it looked like…

Hate? No, impossible.

"You did not return last night for bed, precious," he growled, glaring at Jace as if it were his entire fault.

Which it was.

"I fell asleep in the infirmary," she said, her voice totally and utterly void of emotion, as if she were merely a machine being controlled by someone else. "Korrigan gave me a sleeping draught."

"He couldn't give you something for that damn bruise?" Jareth said petulantly. "It's unsightly."

Sarah was itching to say, "Too bad," but she didn't want to risk Jareth getting angry again, so instead she said blankly, "I like it."

"I find that hard to believe," Jareth said, before changing the subject. "You did not eat a single meal yesterday. Join me for breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry," was her immediately response.

"I find that even harder to believe," he said tiredly. "Nevertheless, I shall excuse you for one more day. But you _will _join me for lunch," he said firmly. Then his smirk returned and he conjured something circular and pinkish and set it in her hand. It was only when she felt the fuzzy texture that she realized with a jolt that it was a peach. Her blank look hardened into crossness.

"You will eat at least that," Jareth sneered.

He leaned down and kissed Sarah's slightly parted lips softly, glancing to the side to see Jace's reaction. Jareth was almost disappointed when he saw no jealousy in Jace's face— as a matter of fact, Jace wasn't even looking at them, instead staring straight ahead of him.

"I will see you at the thirteenth hour, precious," Jareth said rather moodily, turning his back on her and sweeping around the corner.

Sarah wasn't even looking at him; she was still staring angrily at the peach. Jace was momentarily stunned when Sarah turned around and hurled the peach through the open window.

When she saw Jace's inquiring look she shrugged and her smile returned. "I prefer apples."

"He's right though, princess," Jace said, as they started up the spiral steps. "You haven't eaten in nearly two days."

"All right, then," Sarah said huffily. "I want an apple."

Jace obediently conjured up an apple, which she munched on happily until they reached her room.

"Help me untie this stupid thing," Sarah asked, gesturing him into the room and turning her back to him. Jace obediently unzipped the dress and untied the corset obediently.

Just like the first time she'd had him undo her corset, erotic thoughts began to invade Jace's mind. He couldn't help but remember the previous night, how despite His Majesty's furious lashing she'd paid no attention to herself but instead had crawled over to him. Jace could still feel her warm hands against his skin, cold with fear and pain, pulling him closer. She'd placed his head on the crook of her breasts, which had not only comforted him but also made the pain of whipping ebb away (and replaced it with a new pain, this time not in his back but in his loins). He'd been able to smell her scent, that utterly delicious sugared-strawberries-and-honey scent, and it had fogged up his brain momentarily. He'd been able to feel her breath on his skin as her lips brushed his ear, whispering words of console.

While still untying the corset, Jace stared hard at her neck, drinking in the colour and texture of her soft skin, wishing badly to kiss her nape, to make her sigh with contentment underneath his mouth…

A soft crunching noise startled him out of his thoughts— Sarah had taken another bite of the apple. She sighed with relief as the corset released the pressure on her ribs, but she knew perfectly well her relief was short-lived. Jace momentarily stepped out of the room to allow her to change into a gold dress, leaving the back open so that Jace could yank on another corset (damn corsets to hell, she thought bitterly) and zip the dress up.

"Let's go," she said with her mouthful of apple as she half-fell through the door in excitement.

Jace chuckled and with a wave of his hand they appeared in the Castle Beyond the Goblin City, in the throne room. Sarah raised her eyebrows at the forty-or-so tennis ball sized eyes blinking back at her, and the loud chatter and guffawing that had been going on clearly died out on the spot. But it was not to last— seconds later Sarah heard muttering.

"_Who's that_?"

"_That's girly_."

"_Girly who_?"

"_Girly that Kingy loves_."

"_Girly makes Kingy mad_."

"_Not always. Girly makes Kingy sing sometimes_."

"_Makes us happy_."

Sarah couldn't help but giggle as the goblins' faces all split into equally wide, toothy grins.

"_Dance magic, dance," _the lot said together happily, looking up at her with hopeful eyes.

Sarah had no idea how to respond to that, so she looked for help at Jace, who his throat and said loudly, "This is Sarah. She is your Queen now."

"_Ooh, she Queenie now!"_

"_She marry Kingy now?"_

"_Make Kingy happy?"_

"_Make Kingy sing?" _

"_What's that on Queenie's face?"_

Sarah automatically brought a hand up to her bruised face, but the goblin that'd asked the question was ignored and the lot of them continued their chatter.

"_Maybe Queenie sing too."_

"_Queenie sing with Kingy?"_

"_Make us happy?"_

"_Queenie very pretty."_

The final comment came from the nearest goblin, a tan-skinned male with three tufts of yellow hair that protruded from underneath what appeared to be one of Jareth's gloves.

Wondering if Jareth knew that one of his gloves was being used as a head ornament for a goblin, she smiled kindly, "Thank you."

"_Queenie nice,_" said the goblin, giving her another toothy grin that reminded her oddly of Ludo. "_Biggle like Queenie."_

"Is that your name?" Sarah said, trying not to laugh. His name sounded like one of the words Toby had made up before he could speak properly.

"_Biggle is Biggle's name!" _said Biggle energetically, jumping up and down so that the fingers of the glove flapped up and down (I'll take that as a yes, Sarah thought).

"_I's Leaf!"_

"_I's Bulby!" _

"_I's Pinky!"_

"_I's a goblin!"_

"_Stupid, Queenie wants your name!"_

"_Oh… what's my name again?"_

"_Yous is Trout."_

"_Oh yeah— I's is Trout!"_

"Pleased to meet you all," Sarah said kindly.

"_Does Queenie know where Kingy went?"_

"_Kingy don't come here no more."_

"_Kingy no sing."_

"_Mazey thing all broken."_

"He's in the Fae Kingdom, he was sick," Sarah explained calmly, sitting down on the edge of the pit in the floor. They all gathered around her obediently, as if they were her children. "We're here to fix the Labyrinth. Do you know what happened to the other creatures?"

"_They's all left!"_

"_Mazey thing all broken, so they's all left."_

"You don't suppose they know where the creatures of the Labyrinth went?" Jace asked her.

"_Nopety!" _chorused the lot of them, before Sarah could answer. _"Mazey thing broke. We's hid in here."_

"For two years?" Sarah asked in amazement. "How on Earth did you survive?"

"_Kingy crystal ball thingy."_

"_Used it to make yummy food."_

"_And drink; makes you feel funny and sleepy."_

"Ale," Jace explained with a tone of disgust. Clearly the Fae didn't think too highly of Goblins, Sarah realized. Then she realized she also had a problem with them— Jareth was due to return to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City any day now. Knowing the Goblins, they'd probably ask a bunch of questions, and one thing would lead to another, 'another' being Jareth finding out the truth.

"Hey Goblins," Sarah said, suddenly getting an idea. "Why don't we play a game? It's called 'Pretend'."

"_Leaf likes games!"_

"_Bulby likes Queenie!"_

"_Kingy never play games with us!"_

"This is how you play," Sarah said, smiling at her own intelligence. "The Goblin King is going to be coming back to the castle anytime soon. He doesn't know that the Labyrinth was broken. To win the game, you have to pretend that the Labyrinth was never broken. If he finds out, you lose."

"_What happens if we's lose the game?"_

"_Tell us, Queenie!"_

"If you lose, it will be very bad," Sarah said gravely, trying not to smile. "He'll be very mad at you, and he'll never speak to you again, or sing to you again."

At her words there was a chorus of horrified howling, and Sarah knew she'd done her job well.

"_No more singing?"_

"_No more Kingy?"_

"_Maybe if Kingy get mad, he'll take away Queenie too!"_

The volume of the howling doubled at the last comment.

"Don't worry," Sarah said. "If you play the game, none of that will happen. He'll be very happy, and he'll sing."

"_We's won't tell!"_

"_We's promise, Queenie!"_

Sarah smiled at them all. She wondered why Jareth hated them so much; they really were very sweet, and clearly they adored him.

No matter how many times he kicked them out of windows.

"Would you like to watch while Jace and I fix the Labyrinth?" Sarah said, and there was a sea of enthusiastically bobbing heads.

"It's very simple, princess," Jace said, conjuring up a crystal ball with a wave of his hand. "Your presence in the Underground had begun its recovery— your presence in the Goblin Kingdom has sped it up considerably."

He handed her the crystal. "You are the Champion, not only of the Labyrinth but of Wishes. Wish for its recovery."

Sarah squeezed the crystal ball to her heart. Not only did she want to wish for the Labyrinth's recovery, she also longed to wish for several other things…

_I wish that Jareth and everybody else forgot about me completely, right now._

_I wish that I were back in the Aboveground, right now._

_I wish that I would never have to come back here ever, right now._

"I wish the Goblin City and Labyrinth were whole and fixed," Sarah whispered instead, turning to the cone-shaped window. "Right now."

Sarah and the goblins behind her gasped in awe, as the ruins of the Labyrinth seemed to spring to life. It was as though the world has gone in reverse— the walls seemed to crumble upward until they became whole again, the gates and doors reattached themselves to their hinges and bony trees that had fallen over rose back to stand (relatively) straight.

"_Queenie fix Mazey thing!"_

"_Maybe now Kingy will come sing!"_

"_Kingy be happy!"_

"_Kingy and Queenie happy!"_

Sarah's cheek suddenly began to sting again at the hundredth mentioning of Jareth's name (sort of) and she reminded herself firmly that she had to be back at the castle in the Fae Kingdom for lunch, lest Jace get whipped a second time. Or worse, since if Jareth asked them what they'd been doing they couldn't exactly say, "We were fixing the Labyrinth."

"Where do you think the creatures of the Labyrinth are?" Sarah asked Jace, trying to take her mind off Jareth.

"Most likely they fled to the Rock Caller Kingdom," Jace replied swiftly. "Or the Goblin Forest."

"Let's check the Goblin Forest first," Sarah suggested, giving Jace back the crystal ball that he used to make them disappear before the goblins' bulging eyes and into a twisted, thick forest.

Sarah looked around in awe, noting how different it was from the forest they'd visited the previous day, in the Elfin Kingdom. This one sparkled, as if the entire forest floor were painted in glitter, like the stuff that Toby used to smear across himself in Arts and Crafts and come home tracking it all over Irene's carpet. The tree trunks were massive and twisted, as if someone had gripped the trunks with two enormous hands and weaved them in opposite directions. Sarah had to admit, this place looked to clean and beautiful to be called a 'Goblin' forest, but it did have eyes in the far bush that did look a little like Goblin eyes.

Wait, eyes? In the forest?

Sarah beckoned for Jace to come quietly, and she slowly gripped a tree trunk climbed up a small rocky hill to get a better view over the bush.

In a fat, single file line three-by-three, large and small and medium creatures were waddling through the forest in the direction of the giant Labyrinth. Sarah spotted the red and blue guards, who were absently chattering in Scottish accents and laughing boisterously. She saw an enormous group of mountains of red fur that looked exactly like Ludo, and for a moment Sarah scanned the group hopefully for _her _mountain of red fur, but then she remembered Ludo was back in the Rock Caller Kingdom. She saw to her amazement a tiny group of Helping Hands, cut off at the wrists, walking single-file using their fingers. There was a band of multicoloured worms with scarves slinking over stones, the Wiseman was shuffling along behind them with his hat squawking insults to everything anyone did or said, and a grumbling bunch of dwarves were holding piles of Eye Moss.

"It seems I was incorrect, princess, they hadn't been in the Rock Caller Kingdom," said Jace airily from behind her as he too observed the parade. "They're finding their way back immediately— they needn't any help from us."

Sarah wondered what to do in the meantime. She knew she still had a few hours until she had to go to lunch with Jareth. At the moment she wished Toby were there with her. He was the master of finding ways to occupy himself, whether it was finding a crayon underneath his bed and spending many happy hours colouring on the walls with it, or playing with the pendulum in the grandfather clock. Every time, when Sarah had gone to visit, Toby would want to play hide-and-seek, and every time the first place he'd hide was behind the enormous potted plant in the den.

A smile suddenly split across her face, and she turned to Jace. "Let's play hide-and-seek."

"Beg pardon, princess?"

"It's an Aboveground game, I used to play it with my brother."

Jace furrowed his brows confusedly as Sarah grabbed his wrist, eyes twinkling, and tugged him deeper into the forest into a clearing.

"Okay, you'll hide, and I'll count to ten and search for you," Sarah explained. Jace merely watched, confused, as Sarah turned her back and covered her face with her hands.

"Silly," she laughed, when she turned around again to find Jace standing there, looking puzzled. "You're supposed to hide before I finish counting."

For the next three hours they played the strange Aboveground game. Jace had to admit; he hadn't had this much fun since he was a child. The game was simple, yes, but entertaining— it certainly entertained him when it was his turn to search for Her Majesty, and he'd find her curled up behind a bush or a tree trunk, and she look up at him with her big green eyes and giggle her musical giggle. This time it was his turn to hide, and Jace hadn't had enough time before the end of the count to hide somewhere good, so instead he merely stood like a statue behind a particularly fat, twisted tree. Jace could hear the swishing of Sarah's gown against the forest floor fade away, and for a moment he was positive she'd gone in the opposite direction and that it was okay to move his leg because damn it, there'd been a stick jabbing him on the ankle for nearly five minutes now.

Until Sarah suddenly poked her head out from behind the tree and whispered, "Boo," in his ear, causing him to cry out in alarm and the both of them to burst out laughing.

Sarah couldn't believe it— Jace was smiling, _laughing_. The only thing close to a smile Sarah had even seen from Jace was the smirk he'd given her when she'd rammed into him. Sarah couldn't help but notice he was beautiful when he smiled, and she suspected that if perhaps she could get Jareth to smile like that, he'd be beautiful too.

Speaking of Jareth…

A shiny white bubble that floated in between them interrupted their laughter, and when Sarah curiously outstretched to take it, it popped.

"I'm guessing that it's around thirteen o'clock, and that was the Goblin King's reminder," Sarah sighed, feeling sick to her stomach and a little nervous.

"Indeed, we must make haste," Jace said, offering his arm from her to take as they transported back to the Fae Kingdom, into the hall.

This was a part of the castle Sarah hadn't yet visited, and she made a mental note to get Jace to give her a tour later. Inhaling deeply, she watched Jace push open a large metal door and she stepped through it.

This room greatly resembled the Grand Hall, except a lot smaller, maybe the same size as Sarah's bedroom. There was a single mahogany table with two silver plates and wine glasses, eight chairs in the centre of the room, and at the chair on the far end sat Jareth.

In one gloved hand he held a crystal ball, into which he was staring intently. He looked up however when Sarah entered the room.

"Afternoon, love," he smirked, when she entered. Jareth couldn't help but notice the blank look had returned to her face.

"Er, good afternoon," she replied tonelessly, approaching him almost cautiously. "Am I on time?"

"Certainly," Jareth said, gesturing to the chair beside him and making the crystal ball disappear with a swift hand movement.

Sarah sat down obediently, and quickly refrained from twitching when Jareth leaned over to kiss her. It was a light kiss, but it still made Sarah shiver.

"What did you do today, dearest?" he asked, as the empty silver plates suddenly filled themselves with food.

"Jace and I went to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City," Sarah said, digging into her salad. She hadn't noticed it until her plate had filled, but she was ravenous. "I really don't know why you find the Goblins so annoying— they're really quite pleasant."

Jareth felt another pang of jealousy in his chest, and since he didn't know what to say other than 'fuck that damn servant, I'll send him straight into the Bog of Eternal Stench before he can breathe one more breath in this Kingdom' so instead he merely replied, "If you say so, precious."

"I mean, they don't exactly have the highest IQ level," Sarah continued, a smile creeping up her face. "But they're eager to please, and clearly they adore you."

"And why do you think that?" Jareth asked amusedly, noticing the corners of her mouth tugging upward.

"Because that's all they really talked about was you," Sarah explained, and now the smile she'd been holding back was prominent. "They asked when you were coming back, and…"

She let her voice trail to let a musical giggle escape her lips. Jareth relished it.

"… and they wanted to know if you'd come back to sing for them," she finished, looking up at him with eyes green, twinkling and amused.

Jareth grinned, not because of what the Goblins had allegedly said about him but the way Sarah was finally smiling at him, instead of that stupid blank look he'd been getting ever since the previous night.

"What else did you do?" Jareth said, eager to see more of her smile. He was in luck— her smile brightened and she giggled again.

"Jace and I played hide-and-seek in the Goblin Forest," she laughed, remembering how much fun they'd had.

Jareth knew this game— he'd watched Sarah play it a million times with the few friends she obtained as a child in school, but mostly she had played it with the stuffed bear Lancelot, and, Jareth smirked at the memory, she'd always get angry when she'd hide for a full half hour while the bear merely sat motionless.

"Intriguing, how you managed to get such an uptight servant like Jace to play such a childish game," he said airily.

"He's fun, once you get past all that 'rules' thing," Sarah responded, nibbling on a lettuce leaf.

She then randomly let out another laugh.

"What's so funny, dearest?" Jareth asked, pleased that she'd laughed a third time in his presence.

"I just remembered King Minos two nights ago," she said, grinning. "He wanted to install a Post Office in the Underground."

Sarah's was amazed when Jareth actually began to laugh at that. She liked his laugh— it was baritone and rich, and proved her earlier theory that Jareth was beautiful when he smiled instead of smirked.

"Sometimes my father is truly strange," he chuckled, as the remnants of both their meals vanished. "Come precious, I want to show you something."

He rose from his chair and outstretched his hand for her to take, the smile still prominent on his face. Sarah took it hesitantly, and he led her out of the private dining room and down the hall through a pair of large metal doors. She gasped aloud when they stepped outside.

Surrounding the entire Fae castle was a garden — but not just any garden, like that pathetic arrangement of half-dead begonias Irene grew in the windowsill — this garden was _enormous_. It seemed too green to be real. There were bushes and bushes of roses of all different colours lined a path of stones leading down a flowery hill, and trees bearing different fruits, some that Sarah hadn't even seen before.

Jareth smiled at her expression of awe and brushed her ear with his nose. She resisted the urge to back away, but the urge wasn't that prominent anyway— she was too busy being shocked at the amazing precincts before her. The garden certainly looked like it had been pulled straight out of one of her old fantasy books.

"The dwarf does more than just shoot at fairies outside the Labyrinth."

She didn't understand what Jareth had meant at first, but then it dawned on her. "_Hoggle_ did all this?"

"Indeed," Jareth said, barely paying attention to what he was saying due to the fact that he'd become very interested in nuzzling her neck.

"He did a wonderful job," Sarah said happily, making a mental note to tell Hoggle. "It's so beautiful."

"It is, isn't it?" he murmured, relishing the blush that spilled over her cheeks when she realized that he hadn't been talking about the garden. "Come dearest, I'll show you my favourite spot."

He led her with one hand on her tailbone down the path of stone, down a pair of stone steps. Now Sarah could see over the hill, where in the distance was a crystal clear pond surrounded by large reeds and bulrushes, and on the surface two elegant swans were floating gracefully. There were festoons of rainbow-coloured flowers dotting the long drooping leaves of a leaning willow tree, under which Jareth led her to with his mouth still kissing the crook of her next. It was beautiful underneath the tree— shaded, but still tiny beams of sunlight were coming through the thick leaves, making it look as though the ground was sparkling.

"Why is this your favourite place?" Sarah asked confusedly, before she let out an uncontrollable sigh when Jareth's mouth found a particular sensitive spot on her throat.

"Because here, nobody else can look at you but me," he growled against her skin. His eyes found hers and he grinned at her abundant shock. "I'd meant to tell you this all day, but you look more ravishing than normal, love."

Then he looked down at her with complete seriousness. "Tonight, I demand that you sleep in my bed. Rather than taking refuge in the infirmary," he added rather irritably.

Sarah felt fury flare up in her chest, and she pulled away as idly as she could to turn her back on him. "Only if you refrain from whipping Jace half to death."

"Well, that depends," Jareth said darkly, irritated at the distance she was putting between them. "Did he bring you to another of the deadliest places in the Fae Kingdom?"

"I told you," she said huffily, reaching out to brush the willow tree leaves. "We went to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City, and then we played a game in the Goblin Forest. Hide-and-seek isn't illegal in the Underground, is it?"

"It'd be wise to watch your tongue, precious," he said, not harshly but still with the air of a threat. "I've lost a good number of servants to the kelpie that dwells in that lake. That's why I stopped bringing you th—"

Jareth suddenly cut his sentence short, and Sarah turned to face him with her brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"Never you mind," Jareth said briskly, before continuing. "The point is, Wixiban is dangerous, and I don't want you going there without my supervision. Is that clear?"

"I'm not a child, Goblin King," Sarah said crossly.

"Is that clear?" he repeated, more sternly this time. Sarah couldn't find her voice without saying something that would probably earn her another bruise, so instead she merely nodded with a sour expression.

Jareth had half-expected her to answer with an angry retort, but it shocked him when she'd agreed. He wondered where her stubbornness as a child had gone.

"Good," he said, still a little confused. "And I wish you'd get rid of that bruise. You're in the Underground, not the Aboveground— you needn't let it heal naturally."

"I like it," she repeated, her face blanching again.

"I still doubt that," Jareth said irately, refraining from sighing. "Why must you lie to me so much, precious?"

"Why did you hit me?" Sarah said coldly, and Jareth almost grinned in triumph. He'd known that the Sarah he knew would take a hit with stride without arguing about it first.

"Because you lied," he replied simply. "Now answer my question."

"Because I knew you were going to do something to Jace if you'd known he was with me," Sarah said bluntly, crossing her arms. "Because he's the servant I'm so-called 'having an affair' with."

"Well, we'll find that out shortly, won't we?" Jareth muttered, and Sarah pretended to ignore his comment even though it made her insides flood with fear. That could only mean he was planning to take her…

"_Tonight, I demand that you sleep in my bed._"

"Jace is a very good friend," Sarah said quickly, when it suddenly dawned on her that he might punish Jace again, just because of his 'hunch'. "Nothing more."

"Indeed," said Jareth crossly, still sounding not entirely convinced. "But you must understand that all wrongs deserve punishment. You lied, and he brought you to Wixiban's Lake. So you were both punished."

Sarah felt like throttling the man that was now her husband— how dare he speak of punishments with such an airy tone? He _whipped _Jace, for God's sake; split open his skin and had him bleeding on the floor. Sarah envisioned doing the same to Jareth, just to see him get a taste of his own medicine…

"I must return to my duties, precious," Jareth said, pushing aside the curtain of leaves for Sarah to walk out from underneath the willow. "You may stay here, if you wish. I will fetch you for dinner at seven."

She wondered if she even had a choice. "Okay."

* * *

Jareth walked through the abandoned halls at ten minutes to seven, knowing his temper had risen to patience-testing levels. For his afternoon duties, the High King of the Dwarf Kingdom had barked at him over practically nothing. The stupid dwarf had been whining about the Goblins dunking their ale into the River of Dex for the last two hours until Jareth had finally had enough and reminded him that the River of Dex flew from the Syren Kingdom and was nowhere near the Dwarf Kingdom, _or _the Goblin Kingdom. Before that he'd had to deal with a group of Goblins who'd somehow found one of his crystal balls and had transported themselves straight into the Dreamcaster Kingdom. Those stupid pests had waddled back into his castle dreaming they were drinking ale when really they'd been drinking water from the lavatories.

He couldn't wait to get back to his Sarah— perhaps she'd lighten his mood.

But that was certainly not the case when he first passed the library and noticed her sitting at a table. When he doubled back he saw she was not alone.

Sarah was sitting with Jace a little too close to her, and in her hands she had half a deck of cards. The other cards were spread out across the table. He watched with a sour expression as Sarah showed Jace a card, his face blanched in amazement and she began to laugh.

"Jace, you are dismissed," Jareth said briskly, feeling his already raised temper stab at him again when Sarah's smile dropped off her face at the sight of him. He stepped into the room and past Jace. "What are you doing, dearest?"

"I was showing Jace a card trick," Sarah said, gathering the cards and avoiding eye contact with him.

"Look at me," Jareth demanded, lifting her chin with one finger.

Her sparkling green eyes finally met his own mismatched ones, and Jareth felt the anger that had flared up over several hours start to ebb away. He sighed, leaned closer and kissed her mouth tentatively. He hated the way she hesitated before kissing him back, as if debating whether or not to pull away and run the hell out of the room.

And then he got an idea.

"Go up to our room, precious," he said, smirking to himself. "I shall fetch something."

Sarah was confused, but she obediently rose and left the room. She hoped whatever Jareth was going to fetch was dinner, because frankly she was starving.

Our room. When he'd said it, it made Sarah's stomach flip uncomfortably and reminded her that she was actually married to this man. Sarah climbed up the steps and hesitantly entered the room she knew to be Jareth's. Jareth had changed little in the room since he'd recovered— the only difference was a crystal ball perched elegantly on top of the dresser, gripped by an odd looking holder shaped like what looked to be a model of a Helping Hand. Sarah ventured to the bathroom, wondering if she had time to bathe before Jareth got back. In just one of the many mirrors splattered across the walls, Sarah was suddenly drawn to her reflection, her eyes focused on the still-swollen, yellowing bruise that was left over from Jareth's wrath. She touched it with her fingers and stared back at herself in shock, wondering how it went from college to saving Jareth's mind to allowing herself to be hit by a man who supposedly loved her. She stared at herself for a while, silently asking, _Where did the stubborn Sarah Williams that didn't give a damn about the Goblin King go? _

Sarah nearly jumped out of her skin when the door to the bedroom opened, and she whirled around to see Jareth setting down a tray onto the bed. The tray held a bowl of fruit, all topped in a fluffy white cream.

"Dinner," he said, gesturing to the tray and looking proud of himself.

"Dinner is fruit?" Sarah said confusedly, cautiously approaching the bed with eyebrows raised. Not only was she surprised about Jareth's dinner choice, she was also surprised that he'd gone out of his way to bring it up to their chambers.

"We're skipping dinner," Jareth said with a smirk, gesturing for her to come to his side and sitting down on the bed next to the tray. "This is dessert."

Sarah obediently but a little reluctantly stepped next to him, and his arm slid around her waist to bring her into his lap. Once again Sarah had to remind herself not to be shocked, because she was his wife.

"This is a strawberry," Sarah suddenly said, recognizing the fat red fruit underneath the whipped topping. "You have those here in the Underground?"

"No precious," replied Jareth, his breath ghosting over her ear and making her shiver. "These were obtained from the Aboveground, for you."

Her perfume was slightly dizzying him, and her chocolate locks were tickling his cheek. At the moment he wanted very much to nuzzle her neck, but not now... later. Instead he simply relished having her in his lap, his arms wrapped around her waist and his hands resting on her thighs, and watched her delicately pick up a strawberry and bite into it, cream blotting the corner of her mouth.

Jareth stared, fascinated, as her silky tongue ventured out of her lips and flicked the remaining cream into her mouth. It made Jareth have to restrain a groan — she had no idea how attractive she was — and he had to use all of his self-control not to kiss her, to allow his hands to begin exploring her... Jareth immediately pushed these thoughts out of his mind when he felt his loins stirring with complaint and instead reached over to pick a strawberry, sliding his hand over her thighs as he did. This action caused Sarah's mind to flash back to her series of erotic dreams, and she felt the familiar embarrassing rush between her thighs at Jareth's touch. She wanted to get off his lap, but she was afraid to make any movement besides reaching for fruits.

When the last of the fruits was finished, Jareth made the tray vanish with a wave of his hand and decided there and then that it was time to allow himself to do what he'd been aching to do since she'd surrendered into his lap.

Sarah let out the tiniest of gasps as Jareth's lips caressed over her exposed shoulder, trailing up her neck to find a sensitive spot. Shivers ran down her spine and she let out an uncontrollable sigh when Jareth found that spot and began nibbling on it insistently. His hands left her lap and slid over her back, unzipping the back of the dress and working on untying her corset. He had no idea how she did it, how she could make him feel so sure... and hard. Very hard. The corset opened and Sarah found herself able to breathe properly again, but the privilege lasted but a brief moment when Jareth tossed the corset onto the floor and his hands slid into her dress up her stomach underneath the lacy bra to grasp both of her shapely, breasts, and he marvelled at how her nipples reacted when he merely brushed over them with his thumb.

Sarah inhaled sharply— her dream had certainly gotten a lot of details correct: the erotic sensations, the fire growing in her stomach, even the talent that she'd imagined Jareth's hands would have. He kneaded and caressed and rubbed just the right places, and his lips left her neck to lick the edges of her ear. At this Sarah shivered again, and just as she felt Jareth hardening underneath her his hands left her breasts and he pushed her down onto the bed, not roughly.

It suddenly occurred to her what Jareth wanted, and she panicked and pushed against his chest. "Wait, no—"

"Hush, dearest," Jareth growled, biting down on her neck and relishing the cry that burst from her lips. He was ready and hard and knew that there was no way in hell, after the damn afternoon he'd had, he'd stop now just because she was getting shy. With a wave of his hand her dress vanished, and she was in nothing but a lacy bra and a poor excuse for panties.

"Jareth, don't!" she wailed, and she was sure she'd finally got him to stop when he stared down at her with widened eyes. But what came out of his mouth was not what she expected.

"Did you… just say my name?" he said in amazement, gripping her shoulders tightly. Sarah didn't know how to respond to the comment, so she merely nodded.

"Say it again," he demanded, his face hardening as he dove forward to furiously lick and nibble at her earlobe. She shivered. God, he loved the unique way she said his name— it made him feel so loved he swore his heart was going to explode.

"J-Jareth," she stammered, crying out a second time as he ripped open her brassier and gripped her breasts so tightly she was sure they would bruise.

"Again," he snarled.

"Please don't," she cried, when he yanked her panties down her legs.

"_Say my name again_," Jareth half-shouted, as his clothes vanished as well. Sarah could see that his chest was now full and chiselled again, and his bare arms and legs were strapping and muscled. In only one day he'd managed to go from lanky and underfed back to the strong man he'd been two years ago. Sarah resisted the tempting urge to look down at his manhood, something she'd never seen before. When she'd turned seventeen she'd had a boyfriend, but he hadn't done more than kiss her.

When she only stared at his chest instead of heeding his wishes, he let out an irritated growl and forced her knees apart, exposing her sex and causing her to whimper in protest.

"Jareth," she whispered.

At the sound of his name he thrust into her, going in only about halfway. She let out a choked moan; the hands that were on his chest curled into fists.

"Oh Gods above," he growled, shuddering at the tightness of her walls around him. Jareth eased further into her until he encountered a barrier within her. It now confirmed she hadn't been with anyone while he'd been ill— she'd chosen to stay with him.

"This will hurt, love," he said huskily in her ear, before he penetrated the barrier.

The most excruciating pain she'd ever felt in her life engulfed Sarah's body, and she screamed as tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes and Jareth stayed in position. She wished, prayed, he'd pull out, but even though he desperately wanted to move, to feel all of her, he had to let her body adjust to him. Slowly, the pain started to ebb away ever so slowly, and she stopped urgently trying to push him away and instead merely lay there with her hands gripping Jareth's shoulders, trying hard to stop the flow of tears. When Jareth sensed her walls loosen around him he pulled out and thrust in again, slowly and softly. He kept his movements slow, and Sarah felt tiny sparks of pleasure that dissipated more quickly than they had come.

She felt shock flood her insides when she heard Jareth growl in her ear as his movements sped up, and he sheathed himself in her wet heat. And then all of a sudden, his thrusting movements stopped, his head buried in the crook of her neck. Sarah wasn't sure what he was doing— she knew he couldn't have finished, because she could feel him throbbing inside her. Shock hit her again when she felt Jareth's climax ripple through his body, heard his roar of victory, and felt his fluids spill into her.

Jareth collapsed next to her and pulled her into her chest, panting, his skin covered in a sheen of sweat.

"Damn it, Sarah," he growled between breaths. "I love you."

In the next few moments of silence Sarah listened as Jareth's breaths became laboured, and once she was absolutely sure he was no longer awake, she let out a half-choked sob.

Sarah cried herself to sleep that night.

**A/N: LALALALA GUESS WHO'S BACK? :DDD heheh me :3 sorry for the late update, but i haven't had the chance to write very often. school just let out so now i'll have plenty of time :) special thanks to... um, well i dont really know their name. you see, i commented on Youtube on the video 'Within You' and someone asked if i wrote fanfiction, because they'd read my work :) so, special thanks to them, whose name will be revealed if i ever find out XD reviews are wanted badly, cuz if i dont get them i'll die of... unencouragement? is that a word?**


	7. Lavender and Caramel

Chapter 7

Lavender and Caramel

Jareth woke far too early to the sound of running water. On the brink of sleep and wake he stupidly thought, _Damn waterfalls, I shall drown them all in the Bog _before he remembered that there were no waterfalls anywhere near his castle and you can't drown a waterfall, and he sat up to find his bed empty of his wife.

"What on Earth…?" he mumbled to nobody, before realizing that Sarah was in the bathroom. Curious, he got up, conjured up a robe, slid it onto his shoulders leaving the front open and stepped into the bathroom.

Sarah, still wonderfully naked, was curled up in the corner of the bathtub. Her skin was unusually red.

"Morning precious," he said airily, seeing her eyes dart up in alarm and then quickly look away in embarrassment. "May I join you?"

Sarah wanted to tell him to go away, he'd already done enough by practically raping her, but she couldn't find the voice to say what she really thought _or _say no, or even yes, so instead she nodded. Jareth smirked and tossed his robe into the corner, before feeling the water with one hand.

"Christ!" he yelped, yanking his hand out. "For the Devil's sake, love, the water is boiling!"

Sarah shivered nonetheless. Jareth may have found the water too hot, but Sarah knew it wasn't hot enough. Her entire body was trembling from it— she'd felt this way ever since last night, when his fluids had filled her. She'd shivered herself into a brief, dreamless sleep with tears still leaking from the corners of her eyes and had woken at the crack of dawn, feeling bloated and violated. She'd lain there for hours, listening to Jareth's laboured breathing next to her and feeling too scared to get up and run the bath she so desperately wanted. When she'd finally worked up the courage to do it, Jareth had woken. It had hurt to sit up in the bed, and it had hurt when she's sat in the tub, but God, damn it she needed to get clean.

With a wave of Jareth's hand the water cooled considerably, making Sarah's shivering intensify. He slipped in behind her and drew her into his lap, rubbing her arms to try and stop her quaking. She tried not to cry— this man was _touching_ her again.

"Forgive me, precious," he murmured in her ear. "I hurt you last night."

Sarah swallowed a sob and leaned into him, trying to absorb his warmth. "I-It's fine, really."

Jareth sighed— if he hadn't known that she was so sore now, he'd have take her again there and then. He reached for the soap, dipped it into the water and began lathering Sarah's scalded shoulders.

Sarah sighed too; she couldn't help but enjoy the gentle rubbing of slippery soap against her flesh, although the painful lump in her throat was still there, still reminding her of last night. His soapy hands travelled down her back to her sides and then to her stomach, and she couldn't help but moan softly when his hands cupped her breasts, and his slick palms rubbed against her nipples.

"Say my name," he hissed, squeezing her breasts tightly.

"Jareth…" came out of her mouth on another sigh, and her head fell back into the crook of his neck when he flicked his thumbs over her nipples again.

"_HI QUEENIE!" _screeched a high-pitched voice from beside them, and Sarah screamed while Jareth threw the soap across the room and shouted a string of choice curses. She looked down to see the Goblin she remembered as Biggle grinning up at them clutching a crumpled piece of parchment stuffed into his (Jareth's) glove-hat.

"Biggle, what on Earth are you doing here?" Sarah said confusedly.

"Hold on— is that one of my gloves?" Jareth exclaimed angrily, and Sarah giggling immediately shut him up.

"_Wells, it all started like this_," he started happily. "_Biggle and Trout and Pinky, we was all playing Shoot them Chickens with Pebbles or maybe they's was Peas from last night's supper of Something Green with Maple Syrup, and then Chicken fall out window and I jump after Chicken and land in a barrel of something green, maybe it was also Peas from last night's supper of Something Green with Maple Syrup_—"

"Get to the point," Sarah said, dangerously aware that Jareth's temper was rising.

"_Biggle wanted to see Queenie,_" he pressed. "_So Biggle used shiny crystal thingy to make Biggle appear in room, and there was a owlie at the window holding letter for Queenie."_

Then he grinned again and pulled the letter out of his hat.

"_Biggle wanted to give it to Queenie," _Biggle said shyly, looking at his feet. _"Biggle want Queenie to be proud of hims."_

"I am proud of you, Biggle," Sarah said, smiling when she saw his ash-coloured cheeks bloom red. She took the envelope from him and opened it.

Jareth glared hard at Biggle, who was happily oblivious to his look and was instead looking up at Sarah with big googly eyes. Jareth kept his arms wrapped around Sarah's chest, shielding her breasts from the little parasite and watched, feeling irritated, as Sarah pulled out a lilac-coloured paper.

"That's from my mother," Jareth said, recognizing the paper.

Sarah looked both shocked and confused at his words. "That's odd. The last time I checked, your mother isn't too fond of me."

"What?" Jareth almost shouted.

"It's sort of a long story," Sarah said hesitantly.

_Her Highness the High Queen Lavender requests the presence of Her Highness the Fae Princess and Goblin Queen Sarah Marie Williams at eleven o'clock this morn._

"What do you think she wants?" Sarah asked incredulously, staring at the lilac-coloured invitation.

"Peace offering?" Jareth suggested, before sending another look of daggers at Biggle. "Do you mind?"

"_Nope_!" Biggle said happily, clearly not getting the meaning of Jareth's stone-cold glare or the way he was flexing his fingers as if dreaming of strangling Biggle's little neck.

"Please wait _outside_, Biggle," Sarah said hastily, sensing Jareth's temper stab up again. He bowed so low and excitedly that he bashed his nose on the floor and then scampered out the door energetically.

"You really shouldn't be so hard on the little guy," Sarah noted, standing up and stepping out of the tub. "He worships the ground you walk on."

"He and all the others are insolent and annoying," Jareth drawled, stepping out as well. "For the Devil's sake, precious, he waltzed into our private chambers, and then into our private _bathroom_."

"He's just trying to please us, Jareth," Sarah insisted, before she was suddenly pinned to one of the mirrors by her wrists. Her breasts were pressed up against the cold mirror and she cried out when Jareth's body moulded with hers, his growing arousal pressed against her bottom.

"Damn it," he growled, sucking at her earlobe and making a shudder ripple through her skin. "I love the way you say my name."

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut tightly and silently prayed to God that he wouldn't take her again— not now, when she was still hurting emotionally and physically from the night before. Instead he rocked against her, making her breasts rub against the mirror until she wasn't sure if it felt good or if it was painful.

Jareth cursed again in a hoarse voice. "I would take you again right now, love, if I didn't know you were hurting."

_Hurting? You have no idea… _said an irritated voice in the back of Sarah's head.

He let out a growl of frustration and moved off of her, instead going to fetch his robe. Sarah moved off the mirror, shaking again and secretly thankful that he knew how much pain she was in.

She jumped when Jareth slipped the robe around his arms but wrapped the front around her so that she was trapped in his and the robe's embrace. She pressed into him, knowing it was further arousing him, but she didn't care— he was warm and she wanted to rob him of it, make him feel the chill she was feeling. They walked in an embrace, and Sarah sighed with relief when she noticed Biggle was not in the bedroom. He'd been at least smart enough to get her less than subtle hint of 'outside' meaning 'not in the bedroom, because if you wait there Jareth will certainly bog you'. The two of them ventured to Sarah's wardrobe, where Jareth momentarily released her to open the wardrobe.

Sarah couldn't help but like the gown the wardrobe produced today— the bodice was still absolutely ridiculous when it came to visibility of the breasts, but it was her favourite colours: green and gold. Once again the wardrobe had produced a terrible excuse for underwear.

"The wardrobe has your libido," Sarah said softly, before she froze and hoped to God she hadn't said something to earn her another bruise. Instead Jareth laughed genuinely for the second time, and this time Sarah his chest contracting against her back.

"Indeed," he purred in her ear, taking down the dress and the underwear. "I missed dressing you, precious. I hated sleeping alone that night you were in the infirmary."

Sarah's eyes narrowed and her face hardened. She'd temporarily forgotten that, and she couldn't help but think, _Well then, that makes your total up to 3: whipping Jace, hitting me and then raping me._

She obediently let Jareth slip the undergarment on, glad Jareth couldn't read her thoughts. She clenched her teeth when Jareth tied the corset, thinking to herself that having something suffocating her was the last thing she needed at the moment. It already hurt to walk and sit down, so why must it also hurt to breathe?

Sarah got her shoes by herself and slipped them on, turning around to see Jareth already completely dress, and she was relieved that he hadn't made her dress him.

"Come precious, we shall break our fast and then you shall go to my mother's castle," Jareth said.

"But I'll be late for your mother's invitation," Sarah said quickly.

"It is but eight o'clock, and you are due at my mother's an entire hour from now."

"I'm not hungry," she added quietly, for the third time.

"Today, I couldn't care less," he replied, making her raise her eyebrows. "Skipping meals is terrible for your figure—" he swept in behind her and ran a longing finger down her side "— especially to the hips that will carry my child."

She suppressed a flinch; she'd forgotten that part of saving Jareth too. With one hand on her back he led her down the hall and down the spiral steps.

"Whatever happened to your friend, Hoghead?" Jareth asked her lightly. "He was at the dinner three days ago, but I haven't seen him since."

"He's in the Rock Caller Kingdom," Sarah said stiffly, though she did smile slightly at the mention of her dear friend. "And his name is Hoggle."

"Why is he there?"

"Ludo and Sir Didymus are there too. He's… giving them a message from me."

Jareth noticed how her voice and smile faltered, how her eyes looked down at the ground and how her lids lowered seductively. He suppressed the growl that was building up in the back of his throat— damn it, how could she not know how beautiful she was?

He'd been jealous as hell — though he'd never admit it aloud, since his pride was important — when she'd told him she'd spent the day with Jace _again_ (after spending all night with him in the damn infirmary doing who the hell knows what) and that she'd played hide-and-seek with him. He'd watched her grow up playing this game; it was special to her, and she'd chosen to share it with that damnable servant.

Not that Jareth wanted to play a child's game, but nonetheless he was pissed.

And when he'd told her that he'd hated the night he spent alone while she was in the infirmary, he hadn't been kidding. That night had been one of the more sleepless nights of his life— for the first few hours he paced the room, wondering where the hell his wife was and thinking that she'd better be coming back soon or he'd strangle her.

When she hadn't come back well after thirteen o'clock, he had spent another hour debating whether or not to look for her in the infirmary, since she was undoubtedly there. He had decided against it, crawled into bed, audibly cursing to himself that this wasn't _fair_, that she was his wife and that she should not be void of his bed. Then he'd momentarily snickered at his use of 'it's not fair' and then grown sour again when he spent until daybreak imagining Jace and Sarah in bed together in the infirmary, violating one of the Ten Commandments or whatever the Devil they call it in the Aboveground. When he'd finally gotten to sleep his dreams had been plagued with him walking in on _his_ servant and _his _wife having sex in _his _bed, and _his _wife was crying, "I never wanted you to find out like this!"

When he'd woken, eyes heavy and heart pounding with shock and anger, he cursed again and reminded himself that damn it, he needed to get a grip.

Jareth smirked to himself as they climbed down the golden spiral stairs. Now he knew perfectly well that his nightmares and his fears of Sarah's betraying him were completely unjustified— she'd never slept with Jace, or anyone in the two years he'd been ill. She'd never slept with anyone but him.

_She's mine, _he silently gloated, not noticing the rather frightened look he was getting from Sarah as his smirk grew. _Sarah is completely and utterly mine. _

Jareth came back to the Underground when they entered the dining room. Sarah watched as his mismatched eyes, which had been rather unfocused and staring hard at nothing, refocused again. She'd wondered what he was thinking about when he'd fallen into a silence, had become more curious when a smirk graced his lips, and then rather alarmed when that smirk grew almost evil. She prayed to God he hadn't been planning something, like killing Jace or taking her again.

She winced when she sat down but didn't let Jareth see, and the two of them ate their breakfast in silence. Well mostly silence, for Sarah did begin to cough when she took a sip from her goblet.

"What is it, precious?" Jareth asked confusedly, as she stared at the liquid in her cup.

"Nothing, just went down the wrong way," Sarah lied quickly.

Jareth smirked again, and leaned in close and whispered, "You lied again. Why is that?"

He took the goblet from her hands and took a sip. Then his eyes flashed and his grin widened again. "You asked for peach juice?"

"I didn't ask for anything to drink at all," Sarah said crossly, staring at her plate angrily. "It just gave it to me."

"If you say so," he said airily, setting the goblet down and rising from his chair. Sarah watched him confusedly; his plate wasn't even empty.

Jareth dove down and captured her mouth again, and Sarah could faintly taste peaches on his breath. His tongue flicked her own, and now the taste of peaches was extremely apparent in her mouth.

She couldn't help but hate this kiss just as much as the first one— his tongue kept delving over her own and exploring her own like _she _was the peach. She tried not to spit out the taste of him when he finally pulled back.

"Now off you go," Jareth said, handing her a crystal ball. "You shouldn't be late for my mother's invitation."

Sarah gladly sat up, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand when she was out of sight with Jareth and thought, _I wish I were at Queen Lavender and Minos' Castle, right now. _

Sarah appeared into the hallway that looked far too similar to Jareth's castle, and for a moment she was sure the wish hadn't worked before she was cornered by two large looking guards who looked like they wanted to devour her, both in the violent and sexual way.

"Who dares enter the High King and Queen's Castle?" drawled the one on her left, whose ear was heavily scarred by a bite of some sort.

"I— uh—" Sarah stammered, before a female's voice barked, "Get off this girl! Don't you know she's the Fae Princess and Goblin Queen?"

The guards' faces both blanched. "The Champion of the Labyrinth?"

Sarah could see Queen Lavender, dressed in her usual ensemble of lavenders, lilacs, indigos and violets, looking positively livid. Sarah gulped— she'd seen that look in Jareth, just before she was about to be punished.

"I-It's okay," Sarah insisted, trying to smile. "Um, no harm done."

The guards bowed so low their helmets clanked against the floor and hastily excused themselves from the room. Queen Lavender glared at the door the two of them disappeared in and muttered, "Paranoid gits, I should do a Jareth and send them to the bog," before turning her attention to Sarah. "You're early."

"I'm sorry?" Sarah said confusedly, and was shocked when Queen Lavender's elderly face was graced with a soft smile.

"I'm afraid I didn't exactly make a good first impression," she said quietly, before gesturing Sarah down the hall and through a door. It was a room that was identical to her and Jareth's bedroom, except it was void of a bed and wardrobes and was instead adorned with an end table and vases. On one table surrounded by familiar armchairs there was an ensemble of tea-making things and a small plate of cookies.

"Please, sit," Queen Lavender said so insistently it reminded her of King Minos.

"Thank you, Your Highness," Sarah said, sitting down and blanching when she realized she'd forgotten to curtsy to the Queen.

"None of that," Queen Lavender bustled, sitting down across from Sarah and busying herself with the tea kettle. "You must call me Lavender."

Then her expression saddened. "You're wondering why I called you here?"

Sarah nodded, and the Queen continued, "Well… I wanted to apologize for acting like… what do you call it in the Aboveground…? Ah yes, an 'uptight bitch'."

Sarah suppressed a giggle at the fact that a Queen had just cussed.

"I knew it wasn't your fault," Lavender said. "That you couldn't have just accepted my son's offer when he'd made it so Johnny-on-the-spot when you were a child, and that you hadn't known what the consequences were."

Sarah smiled and replied, "Don't worry about it, Your Maj— Lavender," she added quickly. "If it's any consolation, I understand."

Queen Lavender smiled and passed her a steaming cup of tea. When Sarah took a sip she felt the warmth of it shunt out the cold she'd been feeling all day.

"When Jareth took my brother I was determined to hate him," she said quietly, praying to God that she wasn't making the Queen hate her again. "He'd taken away the thing I loved, even though it wasn't his fault. He'd had no choice, and I realize that now."

"Gods above how I've misjudged you, daughter-in-law," Lavender sighed, sipping her tea too. "You've aspired to sainthood."

Sarah blinked, unsure of how that could be. She'd wished away her baby brother, had hated Jareth for nothing, made him go insane, let the Labyrinth crumble to ruins, ignored her friends…

"Forgive me, but I don't see how that's possible," Sarah said confusedly, when she added up her pros and cons.

"You are far too modest," Lavender said. "You chose to marry and pretend to love my son to save his life, his mind and his kingdom. You took on the enormous responsibilities of running the Kingdoms and bearing his children to save the man you allegedly hate."

"I don't hate him," Sarah said softly. "I just don't particularly like him."

"Daughter, what is that on your face?" Lavender suddenly said abruptly, and Sarah's hand flew to the yellowing bruise on her cheek. "What did my son do?" The Queen's voice had risen angrily.

"It's honestly nothing," Sarah said, trying to sound insistent but instead sounding pitiable.

"What did he do?" she said persistently (and rather temper-tantrum like, another one of Jareth's qualities).

Sarah swallowed the lump in her throat that was threatening to make her cry and said, barely in a whisper, "He started whipping my friend for taking me to Wixiban's Lake, and I tried to stop him."

"Damn it, I wish I could haul the boy's selfish ass back to this castle and keep him locked in the dungeon until he realizes he shouldn't hit the woman who saved his damn life," Lavender cursed loudly again.

"Please," Sarah said quickly. "He doesn't know. We had to erase his memory of my rejecting him. He doesn't know he was insane."

Queen Lavender pondered this for a slight moment, before nodding. "A wise decision, since the boy's got an ego that could cover the Underground like a blanket."

Then Lavender's eyes saddened. "And he also took you. I'm assuming you're a virgin."

Sarah's eyes grew wide and horrified. "H-h-how could you…?"

"I saw it when you sat down, dear," Lavender said quietly.

The two of them went silent for a couple of moments, before Lavender added in a hushed voice, "You know, you were not his first love."

Sarah nearly choked on her tea. "Really?"

"He had a wife," Lavender nodded. "Her name was Carmella."

"What happened to her?" Sarah said, confused when she heard her voice crack. "How long ago?"

"She died giving birth to his child," she said, and Sarah could see the lines of sadness in her elderly face. Clearly the Queen had loved this Carmella woman too. "Nearly eighteen years ago. The child died as well, after a mere thirteen hours of life."

Sarah brought a hand up to her mouth in horror. "But… why didn't Jareth go insane and die from a broken heart?"

"I'm not sure," Lavender said. "All I know is he was lucky."

"Lucky!" Sarah cried, startling both herself and the Queen as tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "His wife and child died, and sixteen years later he's rejected and sent into insanity, and is now living with a wife who has no feelings for him! That isn't luck!"

"He is lucky," Lavender said calmly, ignoring her outburst. "Because he managed to cope with the first tragedy and get rescued from the second. By a woman who _does _care for him," she added sternly. "Otherwise you wouldn't have saved his pompous ass."

Sarah blinked in confusion— she'd been under the impression that Lavender was one of those mothers who's blind to her child's flaws and spoils the Devil out of him. Recognizing Sarah's look, Lavender chuckled.

"I made the grave mistake of spoiling Jareth rotten as a child," she said with a smile. "He developed some rather… annoying and arrogant attributes—" Sarah giggled "— but I wasn't entirely blind to them."

"How long did you say the child survived?" Sarah said.

Lavender leaned back in her seat. "Thirteen hours."

_You have thirteen hours to solve the Labyrinth before your baby brother becomes one of us forever. _

Such a pity.

Sarah fell silent as she let the thoughts mull around in her brain. She felt another lump rise in her throat when she pictured Jareth next to his dead wife, who looked like Keira Knightley from _Pirates of the Caribbean_, holding a choking blue child in his arms.

Then something hit her.

"Please excuse me, Lavender," Sarah said suddenly, jumping out of the chair (and wincing). "I have to go."

"Wherever are you going?" Lavender said in confusion, setting down her teacup.

"To confirm something," Sarah said firmly. "When you said the child stayed alive for thirteen hours, it reminded me of something."

"Elaborate," Lavender said quickly, when Sarah was in the doorway.

She turned around and gulped. "I think… I think Jareth may have saved my life when I was a baby."

* * *

Jareth was in the Goblin Kingdom at the Castle Beyond the Goblin City having more than a simple stressful morning. This time the Goblins had nicked another of his crystal balls and upon yelling, "Road trip!" they'd transported themselves right into Wixiban's Lake. Jareth had had to actually reorder and stop time and wade into the lake so that he could rescue his pathetic servants from the depths without getting eaten by the damned kelpie himself. He'd then spent the next hour yelling himself hoarse at the lot of them.

Now he was hunched over in his throne with one leg tossed over the side, his thin golden locks dripping with lake water while his gloved hand attempted to massage away the pounding headache that was threatening to make him scream. He began to dream about lunch and spending time with his wife when Sarah burst through the doors immediately.

"There you are Jareth!" she exclaimed, stumbling over two chickens to get to him. "I was looking all over for you!"

Then she raised her eyebrows. "Why are you all wet?"

"Never mind," Jareth said, sweeping her into his lap. "I'm glad you're here, precious."

"Why?" she asked curiously.

"Because you are my wife," he said simply, burying his face in the crook of her neck to block out the sunlight streaming through the window. "Why do you smell of lavender?"

"I went to your mother's this morning," Sarah reminded him. "Why do you smell like a lake?"

"Ask them," Jareth said irritably, raising his head and pointing at the Goblins. They all grinned toothily up at her.

"_Queenie back!"_

"_Hi Queenie."_

"Hello guys," Sarah said. "Would you mind giving us a minute please?"

The Goblins all scrambled over and trampled each other to be the first to heed her request.

"So, precious, what happened at my mother's that was so important you had to banish my servants from the room?" he said with a smirk.

When Sarah finally looked him in the eyes his smirk slid off his face at the message behind the pools of green. To stop Jareth from seeing the tears spill out the side of her eyes she buried her face into his chest.

"She told me about Carmella."

Sarah didn't know what was worse— the thought of being flung across the room by Jareth and beaten half to death for the mere mention of his dead wife's name, of the actual painful silence that seemed to stretch on for eternity.

"Well," he sighed, sounding oddly calm about it. "If my mother has mentioned it already then it's only fair to tell you the rest."

"Oh no, Jareth, you don't have to—"

"I do," Jareth interrupted. "Because it involves you."

Sarah raised her head and blinked at him.

"Carmella had died giving birth to my daughter," Jareth told her. "We had planned to name her Sarah."

Sarah buried her face in his chest and began crying silently again.

"But you see, you were what stopped me from losing my mind as well as my wife and daughter. I had ventured to the Aboveground and stumbled across your birthing."

This proved her theory and the reason for her hasty retreat.

Because Sarah had been born thirteen weeks premature.

It had been a story often told when her father Robert had still been with her mother, Linda, before Linda had eloped to pursue her theatrical career. Linda had been rushed to the hospital almost three months before Sarah had been due to be born. The doctors there had slowed the contractions and, since Sarah hadn't yet finished developing, injected her with steroids to speed up her growth. But it hadn't been enough, and when Sarah was born two days later she had had to be put in the intensive care unit. The doctors had announced that Sarah wasn't going to survive another hour, before all of a sudden Sarah had been miraculously brought into perfect health, completely developed and able to breathe and function on her own. Robert and Linda had always called her their 'miracle child'.

"You know the story of your birth, I assume?" Jareth said, and Sarah nodded. "You had been born thirteen weeks too early, and you were not to survive. I couldn't let that happen, not another babe without a chance. I put a little bit of Fae into you so that you could heal yourself."

"I'm part Fae?" Sarah whispered.

"Barely, precious, but yes," Jareth answered. "Your cruel eyes are the most exquisite colour of jade, and it is because of the Fae in you."

Then he continued. "I fell in love with you then, as a father, and for years I would bring you to the Underground."

Sarah suddenly remembered something. "Jareth, I had a dream about Wixiban's Lake far before Jace had taken me there."

Jareth nodded. "Yes, I used to take you there before that blasted kelpie invaded it. But then you turned three years old, and you were becoming far too knowing of what was happening."

He let out a humourless laugh. "Not only that, but the Fae Council discovered I'd been bringing you back here. They disallowed me from seeing you for the next twenty years, until they were sure you'd be old enough to keep the knowledge of the Underground a secret. But I cheated." He smirked. "I returned not twenty but ten years later, on the Spring Solstice, when the veil between the Aboveground and the Underground is thinnest. Then I fell in love with you all over again."

Sarah smiled into his chest through her tears.

"You were in the park, with the stuffed bear named after a medieval character in your hands," Jareth snickered. "You were singing to it."

"I remember that day!" she exclaimed in amazement. Sarah, a friendless and newly turned teenager had been leaning on one of the pillars holding Lancelot at arm's length. This had been about two years after her mother had left, and eight and a half months after Irene had joined the family, and Sarah had been singing _Clementine_, the song Linda had used to sing her to sleep, to Lancelot.

"_In a cavern, in a canyon,_

_Excavating for a mine_

_Dwelt a miner, forty-niner_

_And his daughter, Clementine._

_Oh my darling, oh my darling,_

_Oh my darling Clementine!_

_You are lost and gone forever,_

_Dreadful sorry, Clementine."_

"You!" Sarah suddenly realized. "You were the owl that was there!"

Jareth inclined his head to confirm it.

That day had been the first time she'd seen a barn owl in broad daylight. She'd stopped singing abruptly when it had swooped onto the top of the pillar behind her, and she'd jumped back.

"Hello, Mr. Owl," she'd said with a slight smile. "What on Earth are you doing flying in daylight?"

The owl had merely cocked its head to the side and opened its mouth into a silent coo.

"Do you like the song _Clementine_ too?" Sarah had asked him, hugging her bear to her newly developing breasts. "Would you like me to sing it to you?"

The owl had ruffled its feathers almost eagerly and Sarah had continued.

"_Light she was and like a fairy,_

_And her shoes were number nine._

_Herring boxes without topses,_

_Sandals were for Clementine."_

The chiming of the large clock tower had made her stop singing abruptly. "Sorry Mr. Owl, I gotta be home in time for dinner or Irene will kill me."

She had looked quite sour about it. The owl had followed her all the way home, from when she had dropped Lancelot in a puddle accidentally and had tried not to cry about it and when she'd been greeted on the porch by a very pregnant woman with blond hair.

"That was when I gave you the _Labyrinth_," Jareth concluded. "Speaking of which, where is the old thing?"

_I sort of burned it._

"I don't know," Sarah said dismissively. "Must still be in the Aboveground or something."

"Hm," said Jareth almost thoughtfully, before he dove in for a kiss. Sarah had been momentarily repulsed again before the hardship Jareth had endured in his long life hit her like a ton of bricks, and she thought the least she could do was kiss him back. She was married to the man after all.

Sarah discovered that it was less disgusting when she kissed back. It also made a tiny flicker of — could it be? — care spark up in her chest for the man who'd whipped her friend, hit her across the face and raped her.

**A/N: Am I good, or am I good? :DD haha! So anyway, special thanks to Gorillazgurl98 aka Hannah, who was the person I told you about in the last A/N :3 PS so as all of you don't know unless you're psychic, I'm a planner, and I've already got this entire fanfiction planned out. My plan is to have 25 chapters, the last of which will be called 'Honesty and Amnesty' (:D) and if by then i have 1000 reviews or over I'll make a sequel! (which yes i've already started to plan out) if not i'll leave it at a cliffhanger/not happy ending :p reviews = encouragement for someone who has no self esteem (me) and encouragement = sequel :3 **

**oh no, don't think i do it just for the reviews! i do it for the fact that my brain is on hyper-overload every second for Labyrinth fanfiction ideas and if i dont get them out i go as insane as Jareth ^.^' but for example Duet was kind of a flop :/ and i lost interest in it cuz nobody really liked it. so yeah, gonna stop ranting now. :)**

**Happy Birthday Mom.**


	8. Crop in Constant Hand

Chapter 8

Crop in Constant Hand

Two days later Sarah was finally starting to see a side of Jareth that she liked. After Jareth's complete telling of his story, gone was the ruthless, cold-hearted and sex-crazed Goblin King she'd only known earlier (though he still insisted on dressing her). Sarah had fallen asleep in his lap soon after he'd finished telling his story, and she'd been half-woken only to have Jareth free her from the corset, undress her and put her to bed. She'd woken up that morning smiling for some unknown reason, since she couldn't remember what or if she had dreamt. Jareth had been smiling right back at her.

That's what had happened the next morning, and the morning after that. Both days Jareth had gone off do usual duties and Sarah had sought out Jace who'd be eager for another game or two of hide-and-seek, and then she and Jareth would meet and have lunch together, take a walk in the garden, have dinner and then retire in each other's arms. Jareth had on both occasions respected that she was still hurting, but — Sarah felt guilty about lying to him — the pain had left a while ago, but emotionally, she was still frightened and had good reason to be.

It was now morning, and Sarah was awake but had her eyes shut tight. She was cursing silently in her mind, because she'd been having a good dream about having a picnic with Toby and Wix at Wixiban's Lake and she didn't want to face reality right now.

"In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine…" Jareth's velvet voice crooned in her ear, and Sarah's eyes opened immediately. She turned her head to get a momentary glimpse of Jareth before he leaned forward to capture her lips.

"Sing it for me, precious," he murmured against her lips.

Sarah's cheeks reddened when he pulled back to stare down at her with calm, mismatched eyes. "I can't sing."

"Nonsense— you were singing perfectly three years ago," he argued, with a smile tugging at his lips.

"It was five years ago," Sarah reminded him. "Not three."

His smile vanished and he cursed under his breath. "Damn, I forgot."

He was painfully reminded as he drew his wife into a warm embrace that he didn't remember their wedding day, and the question of whether or not to be honest with her resurfaced.

"Precious, why is Hoggle relaying a message for you in the Rock Caller Kingdom?" Jareth asked idly, deciding to put it off until later.

"Um… why not?" Sarah answered lamely and uncertainly, causing Jareth to chuckle.

"Well, for starters," he said. "You could just visit them all there in the Rock Caller Kingdom. You needn't stay here and have Higgle play messenger."

Sarah's heart skipped a beat, and as she stared up at him with wide eyes she forgot to correct Jareth. "Y-you mean it?"

"Of course," Jareth said with a grin, and he watched as her face quickly changed from shock to nervousness to thoughtfulness to excitement all in two seconds.

"Thank you!" she gasped, and she threw her arms around his neck and kissed his lips, shocking both Jareth and herself (though his surprised lasted only a millisecond and he responded with all the enthusiasm he had).

"Mmph, you're welcome," Jareth laughed against her lips. "You're not going anywhere yet," he added, when she pulled away to scramble off the bed.

She gave him a curious look, and he said airily, "I need to dress you."

Her cheeks reddened as usual and her eyes skirted to the ground as Jareth got up calmly and walked to the wardrobe, which again produced an assortment of garments. She noted that the wardrobe had produced a white and red gown that looked like it had been pulled from Lewis Carroll's _Alice in Wonderland,_ and she was about to remark that to Jareth before she realized that he probably didn't know what that was.

Jareth watched his wife shiver as her nightgown was swept off of her body and into his hands. He always wondered why she kept her bra on while she slept, but never said anything about it, because quite frankly he was grateful she didn't also wear panties to bed. He was tempted, like every day he dressed her, to run his hands over her perfect hips that were so good for birthing, and for a moment he was lost in a daydream of a little chubby baby waddling through the castle, with a tuft of blond hair and piercing green eyes.

And by God, he would make sure his child stayed the hell away from Wixiban's Lake.

Jareth jerked himself out of his fantasy when Sarah gave him a questioning look for not continuing to dress her. He took the panties, suppressed a grin at Sarah's precious comment of 'the wardrobe has your libido' and held them out for her to step into. She obeyed and grimaced when it came to the corset, but Jareth had to admit, for a woman of the Aboveground where corsets were ancient history, she took it with as much grace as the Queen she was.

"Fascinating," Jareth remarked aloud when she stepped into the dress. "It's as though only yesterday you were stubborn as hell and playing in a homemade dress in the park." Sarah flushed both embarrassedly and angrily. "You're a Queen, precious."

"I haven't even done anything Queenly," Sarah said; she'd meant to make her tone cool but it ended up sounding breathless due to the fact Jareth had just latched his mouth onto her throat.

"Mm," was Jareth's reply, as he multitasked between zipping up her dress and leaving fervent red spots on her neck.

"Jareth, I have to _gooo_…" she whined, and Jareth grinned against her skin. The whine had been so reminiscent of her sixteen-year-old self (and she'd said his name again).

"Very well, I'll relinquish you for now," he said airily, using less than subtle emphasis on the words 'for now'. "Off with you then."

"Do I meet you for lunch?" Sarah asked him.

"That is entirely up to you," Jareth said breezily, kissing the top of her head. "Have a good trip."

He conjured up a crystal ball and handed it to her, which she took gratefully. He raised his eyebrows when she merely stood there, grinning and dreamily thinking that she'd truly taken Jareth for granted— he wasn't such a villain in her eyes anymore.

"What?" Jareth grinned, when she continued to simply smile. With another one of her musical giggles she turned and took off out the door, leaving Jareth in their room to chuckle to himself again.

Sarah climbed down the spiral steps in search of Jace, thinking that she'd like him with her mainly for moral support. Her smile faltered when she wondered what Ludo and Didymus (and Ambrosious) would think of her once she arrived.

"Princess!" she heard Jace exclaim excitedly from behind her, and she turned to see Jace hurrying toward her with his pale silver eyes twinkling.

"Jace, I was looking for you," Sarah said, giggling when Jace tripped over nothing in anticipation to get to her.

Lately Jace had been acting less and less stuck up and more affectionate and excited to spend time with her, and Sarah loved it. Jace, though a fully grown man and probably just under Jareth's age, enjoyed the children's games Sarah presented to him, and Sarah strongly suspected Jace hadn't had much of a childhood.

"We're going on a trip," Sarah explained, holding out the crystal for Jace to see. "Jareth gave me permission to go to the Rock Caller Kingdom to see my friends there."

"You have a Rock Caller friend?" Jace asked interestedly. "Usually we don't mix with them."

"Yes, his name is Ludo," Sarah smiled at the memory of her sweet friend Ludo. "And why not?"

"We just don't," he shrugged, and Sarah ignored the stab of annoyance and said, "I wish Jace and I were in the Rock Caller Kingdom at Hoggle's home, right now."

Sarah and Jace appeared in what seemed to be a lush green field of overgrown grass, in the middle of a rolling expanse of hills, surrounded by a green forest and white-capped mountains in the distance.

"Over there," Sarah gasped.

In the distance was a quaint house that looked rather like it was pulled out of _the Three Little Pigs_, with a neat little chimney and a roof made of straw. Next to the house was an old stone well that reminded her painfully of the Well of Penitence in the Elfin Kingdom.

"What if they hate me?" Sarah whispered suddenly, taking a cautious step away from the house.

"They will not hate you," Jace pointed out, taking her hand and half-dragging her down the hill. "If they are your friends."

Sarah hid behind Jace as he knocked more loudly than necessary on the door.

"I'm comin', geez, could yeh wait one min—" Sarah heard Hoggle grumble, before the door opened and his sentence dropped. "What the heck are yeh doin' here, Jace?"

"Acknowledge the presence of your Queen and your _friend_," Jace said haughtily, and Sarah poked her head out from behind him and gave a tentative smile.

"Jareth gave me permission to come," she said quietly.

Hoggle's face split into a wide grin and he shoved Jace out of the way, grabbed her hand and yanked her into the tiny house. "C'min, Sarah, I got somethin' I want to show yeh." Her old bracelet was around his wrist.

Sarah was just remarking to herself on how many pots there were hanging on the wall when she spotted a female dwarf sitting in a furry armchair with her rather large feet propped up. Her hair was as white and flyaway as Hoggle's, but her belly protruded out like a balloon. At first Sarah thought the reason Hoggle's chest was puffed out proudly was that he had a wife, but then she realized not only did he have a wife, but a very pregnant one at that.

Sarah's face lit up immediately. She beamed down at Hoggle and threw her arms around his neck. "Oh my God, Hoggle, congratulations!"

"Thank yeh," Hoggle grinned stupidly. "This is m'wife, Tami."

"Pleased to meet you," Sarah said, with a grin on her face equally as stupid.

"Are you the 'Sarah' that Hoggle hasn't stopped talking about for the past two weeks?" Tami asked with a warm smile. "Gracious, I thought he was excited about some other dwarf; I was starting to get worried."

Hoggle flushed and Sarah giggled. Jace came into the house with a sour look on his face and aimed a glare at Hoggle, who glared right back.

"This is Jace, my friend," Sarah introduced, and Jace inclined his head and his cheeks reddened.

"'Friend', my arse…" Hoggle muttered, and Jace shot another murderous glare.

"How far along are you, Tami?" Sarah asked with a smile, gazing at her ballooning stomach. Ever since her encounter in the Underground, Sarah had developed a soft spot for children, particularly little babies.

"It'll be a little over eight months," Tami replied, patting her belly proudly. "Oh, the baby is kicking! Come feel."

Sarah obediently held out her hand and Tami took it and pressed it against her belly. Sarah let out a giggle when she felt rhythmic thumping against her hand.

"Little thing keeps us up all night," Hoggle grumbled. "Won't sit still for two seconds."

"Baby is just energetic," Tami said, giving her belly a smile. "He'll definitely be running around all the time once he grows up."

"You already know it's a boy?' Sarah asked confusedly, wondering if they had special ultrasounds or something in the Underground.

"Yes," Tami answered, and at Sarah's surprised look Hoggle added, "It's a kind of potion— if yeh drink it and yeh get cold, it's a boy, and if yeh're warm, it's a girl."

"What about if you're having twins?" Sarah asked.

Hoggle contemplated this for a moment. "I dunno."

"Sir Hoggle, I have returned!" shouted a hoarse voice from outside. "And with me I have brought my brother, my loyal steed and the funny purple flowers you asked for! Oh, the tale of our journey is a courageous and treacherous one, and we shall tell you every detail of our bravery!"

Sarah started and dashed behind Jace, whose face lit up like a Christmas tree when she grabbed his hand, and in came the little fox, the white dog and the massive mound of red fur. None of them were recognizable due to the fact they all had purple flowers braided into their fur.

"We ran into a nest of minute and cowardly rogues!" Didymus shouted, yanking out a flower from his armour. "They had but nature for armour and blinded us with floral instruments instead of waving their swords like honourable warriors!"

"Pixies friends," Ludo grunted insistently.

"At least they don't bite, eh Sarah?" Hoggle chuckled, and Sarah peered in between Jace's elbow to see Didymus's jaw drop and Ludo with giant brows furrowed.

"Sarah here?" Ludo gurgled confusedly.

Jace stepped aside breezily and hastily shook of her hand, leaving a half-terrified half-embarrassed Sarah in the limelight. Ludo brushed the flowers out of his eyes and did an adorable double take. He blinked a dozen times and grinned with his jaw sticking out.

"Sarah here!" he exclaimed, shuffling over as fast as his knobbly knees would allow him and crushing Sarah in a rather floral-smelling hug. "Sarah friend!"

Sarah opened her mouth to answer and got a mouthful of red fur and flowers, and Didymus shouted, "'Tis the fair maiden from years past!" and Sarah felt something latch onto her right leg and another something that felt suspiciously like a tongue lapping at her hand… and yet another something that felt like tears falling down her cheeks. She buried her face into Ludo's shoulder and started shaking with silent sobs.

"Why Sarah sad?" Ludo whined, and Didymus immediately flew off of her leg and whipped out his sword.

"Who has made yon maiden shed tears?" he yelped, pointing his sword accusingly at Tami, and Hoggle protectively stepped in front of him and growled, "Put that thing down, yeh idiot."

"T'was this rogue who saddened her!" Didymus continued in a tone far to voluminous for the tiny hut and instead pointing his sword at Jace. "Thou shall pay a heavy price, you cur!"

"It wasn't Jace," Sarah sniffled, wiping her eyes with one hand while the other was still latched around Ludo. "I'm just happy to see you guys."

"And I you," Didymus beamed, sticking his sword back into its sheath and bowing.

"Still as noble as ever," Sarah laughed through her tears.

"Ludo friend?" Ludo asked hopefully.

"Of course, Ludo," Sarah sighed, kissing his jutting jaw and giggling when he clapped his and laughed toothily.

"We must celebrate the return of our fair maiden!" Didymus shouted, grinning just as toothily as Ludo. "I shall arrange a party!"

"Birthday?" Ludo grunted confusedly.

"No Ludo, it's not my birthday," Sarah smiled, snuggling into his shoulder and hearing him laugh again.

"… and we shall send invitations to everyone in the Kingdom of the Callers, although we'll have to find an area large enough for all those rocks that they'll undoubtedly bring as guests…"

"Sarah bestest friend ever," he said happily.

"You're my best friend too, Ludo."

"… perhaps we shan't allow them to bring guests, although they might get angry at that; ah well, we shall deal with that when it arrives! Now, shall we invite Their Majesties of Fae as well, since news of the King of Goblins' recovery has reached us…?"

"Didymus, no one's listenin' to yeh," Hoggle pointed out, snickering.

"Instead of a party, why don't we just play hide-and-seek?" Sarah suggested, and Jace's face lit up though he pretended not to show it.

"I haven't heard of such a thing!" Didymus squawked, reminding Sarah of the Wiseman and Hat.

"Jace and I will explain it," Sarah said, passing Jace a smile.

* * *

That's how, well after noon (or thirteen o'clock, as Jareth had put it many times) the six of them — Hoggle, Ludo, Didymus, Ambrosious, Sarah and Jace — were all playing hide-and-seek in the forest next to the mountains. Tami had decided to stay behind when the baby had given her a particularly ferocious kick in the ribs.

At this point Sarah was It, and had already found Hoggle and Ambrosious. It hadn't been hard to find Ambrosious, since a bee had captured his attention and he'd been playing with it an open field, all thoughts of hiding forgotten. Sarah and Hoggle were slowly approaching a fat tree, where a considerable amount of Didymus's sword sheath was sticking out.

"Hmm, I wonder where Didymus could be?" Sarah said loudly, and the hilt began to shake as though Didymus were silently laughing. "Hoggle, check behind that rock."

Hoggle grinned at her and hobbled over to a large rock very near Didymus's hiding spot, while Sarah leaned against the tree where Didymus was hiding, almost elbow-to-elbow with him.

"He's not there," Hoggle called, stifling a snigger.

Sarah turned to Didymus with a false defeated look on her face and asked him, "Do you know where Didymus is?"

"I haven't a clue," Didymus said, before the three of them burst out laughing.

"Okay, now where are Ludo and Jace?" Sarah said, turning her head to search.

"They did not run in the same direction as I when yon maiden began her countdown," Didymus replied, pulling out his sword and raising it in the air. "Onward, friends— we shall begin the search for my brother and the servant immediately!"

"I know how to get 'em outta their hidin' spots," Hoggle said with a smirk, before calling loudly, "Oh no, Sarah's in trouble!"

Jace and Ludo both shot out of different directions and began to run to where Sarah was, Jace tripping over a root in the process.

"No fair," Ludo grunted; it would have sounded irritable were it not for the grin on his face.

"Well, it's nice to know you all care," Sarah said smugly, before she realized that she was hungry. "We should get to the castle— I can't remember if Jareth wanted me to have lunch with him or not."

"It's five hours after lunch, princess," Jace pointed out, with cheeks still flushed from embarrassment over tripping and practically throwing himself to Sarah's rescue.

"Damn," Sarah said in alarm, racking her brain frantically to remember whether or not Jareth had asked her for lunch. "We should get to the castle quick then, just in case he _did_ request me for lunch."

Sarah and Jace glanced at each other and Sarah saw the worry in Jace's eyes. "I won't let him do it again."

"Do not provoke him, princess— mind what he did to you last time you contradicted him."

"Bruises heal, Jace," Sarah said firmly, gesturing to her cheek which once bore a flower of a bruise but was now clear. "Whip wounds don't."

"He _hit _yeh?" Hoggle gasped out, reminding Sarah that her friends were still there. "That son of a bitch!"

"Relax Hoggle—" Sarah began.

"Don't yeh tell me to relax, Sarah, I'm gonna kill that rat!"

"And I shall join you!" Didymus shouted, brandishing his sword and accidentally poking himself in the eye with it. "No peasant nor Majesty shall ever blemish yon maiden and get away with it, and that is an oath I shall take to the grave!"

"Ludo call rocks," Ludo added firmly.

"Everybody, hush!" Sarah ordered sharply, and everyone quietened. "Nobody's going to be attacking Jareth. He can hit me all he wants, but he can't break me."

"Actually, Sarah's right," Hoggle realized. "Yeh're too strong for yer own good."

"I know," Sarah sighed, linking arms with Jace and taking out the crystal ball Jareth had given her that morning. "I wish Jace and I were back at Jareth's castle, right now."

* * *

Jareth was cross as he draped himself over the throne. It was not the first time, of course, but this time it seemed to bother him a lot more. And it wasn't over some stupid morning-long argument with some idiot Majesty of who-the-hell-cares Kingdom, or because his Goblins had done something stupid (which yes, they had). It was because Sarah had chosen not to come to lunch with him.

He recalled in the morning, after Sarah had been beautifully naked before him (he'd refrained from touching her, for her sake) that she'd asked him whether or not she should join him for lunch and his exact words had been, "That is entirely up to you." In other words, "No shit," as Jareth had earlier heard some Aboveground people say when expressing the obvious. But instead she had chosen her friends over him. Again.

Jareth leaned back his head and closed his eyes, eyebrows furrowed. Something should have changed with that issue— he was her husband now, of course. The corner of Jareth's mouth quirked up at that, but it still didn't rid him of that nagging feeling that Sarah didn't quite love him as much as her friends…

Perhaps she didn't love him at all.

But that's impossible, argued something in the back of his mind. If she didn't love him, she wouldn't have married him, of course. He decided he was just being silly, rose from his throne and transported back to his castle in the Fae Kingdom, glad to get away from the Goblins' shouting.

And directly in front of him stood Sarah and Jace, arm in arm. He stepped behind the wall with as much silence and grace as a lynx and felt irritancy slowly boiling into rage. Now why in _Hell _was his wife draped over that damnable servant like some low-class whore? And then Jareth noticed the tears that slipped down her face and he was just planning on how to kill that stupid servant for making his wife cry before Sarah whispered, "Thank you, Jace, for coming with me."

"Forgive me, but why are you crying, princess?"

"I'm not sad," Sarah sniffled, giggling through her tears. "I'm happy. Today's been one of the happiest days of my life in two years."

Jareth felt another pang of guilt at having forgotten their wedding— no doubt that's what Sarah was talking about when she mentioned 'two years ago'.

"Then do not cry," Jace said, wiping her tears away with the back of his hand. "Rejoice."

"Okay, I will," Sarah laughed, squeezing his arm. "I'll be right back, I'm going to look for Jareth— he's probably back from the Castle Beyond the Goblin City by now."

She climbed up the spiral steps leaving Jace alone, or so he thought, until Jareth stepped out from behind the wall with pure hatred inscribed on his already hardened face.

"Your Majesty," Jace said, bowing.

"Jace, I am going to ask you a very important question," Jareth said coldly, crossing his arms and noting how he towered over the servant. "And if you do not answer truthfully you will be killed. Do you understand?"

Jace nodded seriously. Jareth noticed that the back of Jace's hand was still shining with the remnants of Sarah's tears.

"Do you or do you not love my wife?"

The question took both of them by surprise, and while Jace showed his astonishment Jareth remained cold and angry.

"No, Majesty, I do not," Jace replied with eyes wide but brows furrowed firmly. "I admit honestly that I am attracted to her, but I am not in love with her whatsoever. She is beautiful."

Jareth knew this was the truth. But it didn't stop him from conjuring up a copper-coloured whip that he knew would make Jace scream and writhe and die like the pathetic maggot he was without so much as breaking the skin.

* * *

Sarah wandered the castle for a full half hour before finding Jareth idly wandering through the halls with an almost elated look on his face.

"There you are!" Sarah said exasperatedly. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Why?" Jareth asked curiously.

"I didn't come to lunch today because I lost track of time again," Sarah said quickly, hoping he wasn't angry.

He quirked up an eyebrow. "You didn't have your head stuck in another Well of Penitence, did you?"

"No, we were playing hide-and-seek," Sarah replied, unable to help the smile that was growing on her face.

"Again?" Jareth sighed. "Even when a Queen, you still play that one childish game."

"Everybody enjoyed it," Sarah said earnestly. "It was fun."

Jareth suddenly swooped down on her quickly while his hands shot around her waist and pushed her roughly into his chest. Sarah let out a gasp before Jareth captured her lips. She was confused and startled; why on Earth was he acting so strange all of a sudden, after the last couple of days?

He pulled away and looked at her with cold, blazing eyes. "You are mine. You belong to me. Do you understand?"

Sarah stared back at him with wide eyes— she could tell he was totally serious. "Jareth, why are you acting strange?"

"Answer the question," Jareth said coolly.

Sarah nodded in agreement with brows knitted together, and she slowly backed out of his grip. "I'm… going to find Jace, okay?"

She didn't wait for his answer but turned her back on him and walked down the hall, aware of his eyes on her. She refrained from running away, even when around the corner and out of sight. What the hell was wrong with Jareth? She wondered if something had happened while he was in the Goblin Kingdom.

And for the record, where the hell was Jace?

She pulled out the crystal ball from her pocket that she'd forgotten to give back to Jareth and said, "Show me Jace, please."

The crystal slowly started to show Jace leaning against a wall, one floor above her, with a stony look on his face. She wondered what was wrong.

_First Jareth, now Jace_… Sarah thought, gathering her skirts so as not to trip over them and hurrying up the spiral staircase to where she knew Jace was.

"Jace?" Sarah asked confusedly. She noticed the twitch in his cheek when he leaned off the wall, and how stiffly he was holding himself.

"Princess," he said, in the same airy voice he'd used when they'd first met. This was unlike her friend.

Sarah froze almost as stiffly as Jace, the gears in her brains whirring almost loud enough to be audible.

"Jace, take off your shirt," she said in a low voice, not quite meeting his eyes.

"Princess, what—?"

"Do it," Sarah ordered, her eyes finally snapping to his, and Jace could finally see the absolute fiery seriousness in her eyes.

He obediently began unbuttoning his jacket, removed it, and then removed the poet's shirt so similar to Jareth's. As Sarah had suspected, across his rather lean chest in an almost zebra pattern were dozens of welts, still swollen and red raw. Jace anxiously searched her face, and he found it blazing with mixed emotions of anger, pity and guilt. Slowly she reached out with both of her hands and pressed them palm-open against his skin. He flinched at first, but after a while her hand felt cool and good against his throbbing skin.

Sarah slowly slid her hands from his chest around his waist and pulled him into a gentle embrace, tight enough to comfort but not so tight as to hurt him. Jace settled into her embrace in a way that would have been considered by others almost enthusiastic; half because the bodice of her dress revealed her cool skin that was pressing against his wounds, half because he knew that only one piece of clothing separated him from her breasts.

"Did he do it because of me again?" Sarah said in an almost toneless voice, not pulling away.

Jace wasn't sure of the answer himself. Quite frankly he wasn't even sure she'd spoken— his face was buried in the thicket of her hair and her scent of sugary strawberries and cream was making his brain fuzz.

"Uh… uh, no princess," he managed to say while inhaling her scent even more.

"Does he just like being cruel?" Sarah said irritably, before she realized that yes, he does, because he'd said it himself.

_Just as I can be so cruel._

"Jace, go to the infirmary," Sarah ordered, pulling away from him with a blank look on her face.

"Princess, I needn't—"

"That's an order Jace," Sarah said sharply, turning her back on him. "Give Korrigan my regards for the day. I'm going to see my cruel husband."

She ignored Jace's cry of, "Princess!" and hurried up the golden spiral steps to where she knew Jareth would be changing for dinner.

* * *

Jareth was absolutely livid. After discovering Sarah had only sought him out to tell him why she hadn't been at lunch, she'd then egged on his anger by being ignorant about her little 'mishap' with that annoying servant, practically rejecting his kiss, asking him why he was acting _strange_ and hopped off to find that servant again. Upon returning to his chambers to change for dinner he'd punched two of the mirrors in the bathroom, fixed them with magic, broken a third and then fixed that one as well.

Now he was flopped over on the bed on his back, glaring angrily at the ceiling and wondering if he should just skip dinner altogether and go to sleep. He was already tired despite the fact it wasn't anywhere near late.

And just as he was starting to drift off Sarah appeared in the doorway with a blank face, nearly scaring the living daylights out of him.

"Damn it, precious, did you have to enter as though you were a ghost?" Jareth said, swearing and throwing his pillow across the room for no reason.

"Why do you do it?" Sarah said dully, stepping into the room and crossing her arms.

"By 'do it' I assume you're speaking about Jace?" Jareth said tiredly, rubbing at his eyes.

"You assumed correctly," she said coldly. "What possible motive could you have had this time? Jace didn't take me anywhere— _I _took _him _to the very place you gave me permission to go to this morning!"

"I asked a question, he gave me an answer I didn't like," Jareth replied just as coldly. "It's none of your business."

"Jace is my best friend, and you are my husband," Sarah practically spat— she had no blank look anymore, now she was downright pissed. "It makes it my business." Then she saddened ever so slightly. "If you love me, you'll stop hurting Jace for nothing."

"As much as I love you, precious, that is not happening," Jareth said, getting up off the bed.

"Then I hate you," Sarah said stonily, and Jareth actually froze. "And every time you hit Jace I'll hate you a little more."

Jareth's fist swung at her again; this time she didn't fall back, but her head did whip to the side dramatically as his nail and knuckles left a bruise and a bleeding gash across her left cheek. Alarm had lit up on her face and disappeared as quickly as it had come— now she had the blank look on her face again as she brought up a hand to touch the blood.

"What kind of a man hits his own wife?" Sarah muttered, avoiding his eye. "Pathetic."

She knew perfectly well that this was only egging him on, but the ball of fire raging in her chest was uncontrollable, though it didn't show on her face.

"Keep your mouth shut, _dearest_," Jareth spat at her. "Or I may do more than just blemish your face."

"And what will it escalate to?" Sarah asked, staring him hard in the eyes now. "Are you going to beat me unconscious? Or are you going to straight-out murder me?" Then her face hardened even more. "You have far too big of an ego, Goblin King."

"Perhaps," Jareth hissed. "Or perhaps my _wife _is too in over her head to realize that if you're caught with your hand in the cookie jar, you are going to be punished accordingly."

"And what the hell, Goblin King, was so offensive that Jace said that led you to whipping the man?"

"I asked him whether or not he was in love with you," Jareth said haughtily. "And he said—"

"No, of course," Sarah scoffed.

"Do not interrupt me," Jareth warned. "He said no, that you were beautiful and that he was attracted to you."

Sarah was momentarily flattered but that feeling quickly dissipated when Jareth conjured up the silver whip again. "On your knees."

"What—?"

"I shall give you five whips for each insult you said to me," Jareth said as coldly as ice, his eyes burning. "You said three, so that will be fifteen."

"Three?" Sarah repeated with eyes wide.

"'I hate you' counts," Jareth growled, snapping the whip in the air. "On your knees immediately, or I shall return to Jace and present to him your punishment."

Sarah dropped to her hand and knees immediately, glaring at the stone floor. Part of her was terrified of the pain that was coming, and the other part wanted to leap up, snatch the whip from_ His Royal Highness's _hand and strangle him with it. She blamed her childhood dreams of being the heroine for this.

"You will count up the number of whips."

As the first crack sounded through the room Sarah felt it on her back, with a scorching but bearable pain and the tearing of fabric.

"One," she said coolly.

The second one slapped down in the same spot as the first, and Sarah opened her mouth in a silent scream, refusing to make a sound, as she felt her skin break.

"T-two," she stammered out, unable to help it but still managing to keep the blazing look on her face.

Jareth hit her a third time across her arm to her shoulder, slicing open the skin there too, and Sarah silently screamed again.

"Three."

Crack.

"F-four."

Crack.

"Five."

By the sixth crack Sarah's elbows and knees gave out and she slumped down on the ground, barely conscious. That didn't stop Jareth— he brought the whip down on her four more times before her dress was in tatters and her whole body was stinging so much it kept her on the verge of unconsciousness. She blacked out for about a minute, and when she came to her body was on fire, and someone was carrying her down the hallway.

"Treat her," Sarah faintly heard Jareth order, and Korrigan's tiny voice gasped out in alarm and she heard a faint cry in the corner that she didn't recognize until a face loomed over hers.

"Jace," Sarah whispered, trying to move her hand to touch his face but instead managing to move but a finger. "Do you really think… I'm beautiful?"

She never heard his answer.

**A/N: I told yall not to talk too soon! :D ahem for those of you who have no idea what im talking about, a bunch of people were predicting that Jace and Sarah are falling in love, or Sarah and Jareth or blah blah blah... not happenin folks :p as you can plainly read above. PS someone also posted a review (wont reveal names) that this is just another 'Stockholm Syndrome fanfic'. Technically not, because Jareth isn't her captor: Sarah's there of her own free will :P and she's not falling in love with him -.-' for the second or fifth time, lost count ^^' yall better like this chapter, cuz it's 1 am here and i stayed up super late just to write this chapter! :O ya better be grateful! PPS just noticed a MAAAJOR typo in the previous chapter, i said that if i get over a 1000 reviews i'll make a sequel, but i meant 100! :O everyone knows im not gonna get 1000 reviews! XD sorry yall, hope i didn't sound big-headed**


	9. Too Strong For Your Own Good

**A/N: warning, two sex scenes in this chapter ;) one for Sarah & Jareth and another for Jace and some servant ;))) enjoy!**

Chapter 9

Too Strong For Your Own Good

"_I hate you_."

Those three simple words echoed in Jareth's head throughout the course of the second night he spent alone in his bed, while his wife was right below him unconscious in the infirmary. Again he spent the one-third of the night pacing with one hand over his mouth and brows knitted together, one-third of the night flopped over on his back staring at the ceiling on his bed, and the final third was spent in a restless sleep plagued with dreams of Jace whipping him while Sarah clutched baby Toby to her and screamed things like, "I hate you!" and, "You have no power over me."

He woke at the crack of dawn and spent another hour conjuring up crystal balls and throwing them angrily at the wall. Last night he'd been so angry he'd wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her and scream and call her a whore until she turned to dust in his hands. Now he just wanted her in his arms, or more preferably beneath him. When he'd fallen, truly fallen, in love with Sarah that day all those years ago (five, not three, he reminded himself firmly) he'd pictured marrying her, bedding her, having a child with her… his fantasies had been perfect. They'd go about their business in the day, return to each other's company in the eve, smiling and laughing and teasing each other, then their laughter would turn to moans and—

"FUCK!" Jareth shouted angrily, conjuring up another crystal and this time throwing it out the window where it hit an unfortunate early-morning passer-by on the head.

What the hell had gone wrong, and how could he fix it? Things had been going a lot better in the past two days, after he'd whipped Jace for taking her to Wixiban's Lake; the past two days had been identical to his fantasies, with the exception of sex. Jareth inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself down. He had to go to the Goblin Kingdom and resume his normal duties in an hour; then, he thought to lift up his mood a little, he'd visit his wife in the infirmary and maybe talk her into a stroll through the gardens. They hadn't gone together since the previous morning, and he was debating taking her underneath the willow tree, since no doubt she was no longer sore from losing her virginity.

Jareth sighed irritably, sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed at his eyes, heavy and tender from lack of sleep. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Jareth wasn't the only one who had trouble sleeping that night. Both Sarah and Jace, taking refuge in the infirmary, had been kept awake by pain and guilt and too many thoughts.

Jace, upon Sarah's arrival, after several years of training to be a firm and controllable servant, felt his control slip away almost completely the minute he saw His Majesty walk in with Sarah in his arms, her dress almost completely in tatters and stained blood. Jace's eyes had snapped to his; Jace's wide with terror, His Majesty's cold and angry. He stared Jace down as his lips formed the words, "Treat her," and Korrigan let out a gasp and Jace couldn't help but let out a cry. He wanted to strangle the Prince, wanted to take his silver whip and hit him with it so hard he'd be in a million pieces.

His Majesty had placed Sarah gently on the bed, as if she were a porcelain doll, and left immediately without another word. Jace had no time to be glad he was gone, because the moment he hurried to his side after the child physician practically bolted into the next room for his mint leaf, her jade eyes drifted over to him and a smile curved on her lips.

When she said his name, he almost moaned. When she asked if he really thought she was beautiful, he died a little.

Sarah had drifted in an out of consciousness, practically on the brink of sleep and wake, because of the fiery pain of the whip wounds. She'd had a moment of bliss when Korrigan had ordered Jace to support her back while he cleaned off the blood. For ten marvellous minutes she'd been in the lap of her best friend, her face buried in his neck and his arms holding her up, while Korrigan had showed up with the mint leaf he'd used on Jace before.

"N-no," Sarah had stammered out, so weak she could barely find the strength to move her lips. "Don't take them away. L-let them h-heal."

Korrigan had argued that, "bruises were one thing, whip wounds are another thing entirely!" but Sarah's decision had been set in stone. Instead Korrigan had returned with a cloth and a vial of some strange green liquid.

"Elfin leaf juice," he'd explained, before also taking out a pair of sewing scissors. "I'll have to cut open your corset."

Sarah had turned her head back to snuggle into Jace, whose face had been buried in the thicket of her hair, and Sarah could have sworn she felt Jace giving her feather-light kisses just above her ear just as Korrigan began cutting open her corset. It almost made her want to cry.

Jace, at this point, had been almost terrified. He had, in fact, been brushing his lips lightly over her temple, half for emotional support (for both him and Sarah), half because his stupid Fae instincts couldn't help but draw him into her sugary scent again. Sarah was becoming his aphrodisiac far too quickly for his taste. And then Korrigan had announced he'd be practically stripping Sarah in front of him. As if his hormones weren't on hyper-drive already!

Jace couldn't help but watch with an almost horrified look as Korrigan removed the corset, and Jace could see the whole of Sarah's back from her shoulders to her tailbone. He was still revolted at the still bleeding gashes across her back, but his Fae instincts made all of Sarah's curves, the bareness of her back, the arch of her shoulders, extremely vibrant.

He received another unpleasant jolt when Korrigan cut through her brassiere and tossed it onto another empty bed, and Jace was horrifyingly aware that Sarah's bare breasts were just above his hands. God, if only he could move his hands upward, just a few inches, and feel them…

He distracted himself from these thoughts by noticing the violet bruise on her cheek that this time was paired hand in hand with a bleeding scrape. Well, that was a lie, actually— first he noticed how full her lips were before wondering what it would be like to kiss her, then he'd noticed her closed eyes and remarked mentally on how beautiful her lashes were, and finally he'd noticed the bruise. So now this time His Majesty had hit her _and _whipped her. Jace leaned down and kissed her cut, tasting blood in his mouth but not giving a damn. Sarah smiled but didn't open her eyes, concluding that she was almost asleep.

Knowing her eyes wouldn't be open any time soon Jace snuck a peek below. He nearly gasped aloud when he could see clearly both of her breasts— not too large but not too small, shapely and round. Her nipples were erect from grazing against his shirt, and Jace wished with all his heart he could take away the strain from them.

Don't be stupid, he reminded himself firmly, letting his gaze snap back up. Control yourself, damn it!

He sighed and buried his face back into her hair, inhaling deeply and thinking, _I need to take a day off from the princess and get a woman._

* * *

Sarah woke up screaming, alarming Korrigan to the point of actually grabbing a knife just in case she was being attacked. He waddled out of his store cupboard as fast as his tiny legs could carry him and saw Sarah sitting up, bandages wrapped around her chest to her waist like a shirt, gripping the sheets tightly and panting heavily.

"What's the matter?" Korrigan yelped, waddling over to her side.

"It… hurts…" Sarah forced out through clenched teeth.

"You chose to let them heal naturally, remember?" Korrigan explained to her, rather crossly. "I could take away a bit of the pain…?"

"N-no, it's fine," Sarah stammered. "It's just… I had a dream I was on fire, and when I woke up I thought I really was… so…"

She let her voice trail away, and then looked up. "Where did Jace go? I remember him being here."

"He stayed until about four in the morning, then he fell asleep for a couple hours before he had to work." Korrigan then turned to look at her firmly. "You were also naked from the waist up when he fell asleep, mind you."

"Um… why?" Sarah asked, cheeks flushing red.

"I had to cut open your corset, and I needed him to prop you up. When I was done, though, he wouldn't let go of you so I could cover you up again."

"Oh yeah, I remember," Sarah said, last night's events flooding back to her. She smiled at how nice Jace was; he was such a good friend.

"You'll have to spend the day here, unless you let me get rid of those wounds," Korrigan said over his shoulder as he tramped off to get a Painless Draught.

"Nope, I'll keep them," Sarah decided firmly.

"Are you going to keep the bruise and the cut His Majesty gave you?" came from the store cupboard.

Sarah's hand flew to her cheek. "I forgot about that."

"You're too strong for your own good," Korrigan commented, and Sarah grinned.

"My friend said the same thing to me yesterday," she said, moving to lie back against the pillows and gasping through clenched teeth as pain shot across her back.

"Hang on," Korrigan said, hurrying over with a tiny glass of violet liquid. "Drink this. It's absolutely disgusting, but it'll help."

Sarah pinched her nose with two fingers, gulped it and nearly threw it back up again— it tasted like rotten cheese and spoiled milk. She felt a tingly sensation spread across her body, and all of a sudden her back wasn't absolutely throbbing anymore. The wounds felt more like a mild sunburn now.

Sarah eased out of the bed, wanting to get up and stretch her legs, but Korrigan shot her a look. "Don't get up."

"Why not?" Sarah whined, giving him a face reminiscent of a pouting child.

"Because you need rest."

"Can't I rest somewhere else? I've always hated hospitals."

"No, you can rest here, because if something happens I don't want to have to run up three flights of stairs to get to you. I'm not a fast runner, as you can plainly see."

"Can I sit by the window?"

Korrigan debated it for a moment before saying, "All right. Stay there," he ordered, before bustling off and returning with a comfy-looking dining chair.

"Can't I go down to breakfast at least?" Sarah tried. "I'm starving."

"Go down to breakfast and eat with His Majesty, you mean?" Korrigan said, not harshly but still it made Sarah flinch. "You're eating here."

Sarah stuck out her lower lip and crossed her arms. Today was going to be hell.

* * *

When Jace had hurried out of the infirmary at seven in the morning, it wasn't, as he'd told Korrigan, because he was late for work. It was because he'd woken up with Sarah in his arms, still half-bare before him, and he'd been horror-struck when he realized one of his hands was gently pressed to her breast. He'd had to get the hell outta there and get laid or he would have basically raped the Fae Princess and Queen of Goblins right there in front of the physician.

Now, Jace was in his servant's chambers with another servant, a female with raven-coloured hair and emerald green eyes, just like Sarah's. Jace's usual routine with the whores their Majesties of Fae hired as servants was to not bother taking his clothes off but stripping her completely (kissing was not required) and to fuck them brainless, until they had so many bruises they were the colour of a night sky from the head down, but now that was not the case. Now it was both of them who were bare, locked in what some might call a lover's embrace, and Jace was relishing her lips and stroking her breasts while making love to her below. Not fucking her senseless until the slut turned to dust, but thrusting slowly, worshipping her body.

She put both hands on his rear and pressed her into him further. So, she wanted more than just what he was giving her? He could do that.

He pulled her in for a rough kiss while his hips slammed into hers, sheathing himself from tip to base in her wet heat. She screamed out her release and he felt her tighten around him, causing his own control to spiral away, and he threw back his head and screamed her name.

Not the servant's name, however. _Her _name.

* * *

Jareth transported back to the Fae castle at lunchtime, positively fuming. The Goblin's had taken their mischief to a whole new level— instead of jacking one of his crystal balls and transporting themselves to some dangerous place, they'd taken hundreds of his crystals and literally handed them out to the creatures of the Labyrinth as "Welcome home souvenirs" so Jareth had spent the first half of the day transporting from one end of the Underground to the next, rescuing worms from the bottom of oceans, Goblins from Man-Eating Trees and Rock Callers from the lull of the syren's songs in the Syren Kingdom. The creatures who hadn't been stupid enough to transport themselves out of the Labyrinth had conjured up food, ale, and one particularly idiotic Fiery had quite literally conjured up a lightning storm above the Labyrinth that for some reason targeted everybody with lightning if they didn't take off their heads.

He was just heading past the servant's quarters to see his wife in the infirmary when Jace and a servant stepped out, both looking flushing with their hair out of place.

"Majesty," they echoed, he bowing and she curtsying before she hurried off.

"Jace, I wish to talk to you," Jareth said sharply, before he could leave.

He noticed how the servant looked a little like his wife, and clearly they'd just screwed (though this time the whore seemed to be void of bruises, unusual for Jace), but frankly he was going to let the matter drop, since something was troubling him.

"Yes, Majesty?" Jace said airily, with his arms behind his back and his posture pin-straight, but his eyes cold and murderous.

"You will tell no one of this conversation, especially my wife."

"Yes, Majesty."

Jareth wanted to strangle the servant; he sounded like a recording. "I am going to tell you exactly what happened the previous night."

Jace cocked his head to the side, clearly interested.

"Last night my wife told me she hated me." He said it quickly, so that Jace didn't hear the hurt in his voice.

_Good on her, _Jace thought.

"She said every time I hit you she'd hate me more. My own wife insulted me thrice, damn it!"

Jareth turned to the wall and punched it to try and relieve his anger, but all it earned him were two bloody knuckles and an unnoticed smirk on Jace's face that left as quickly as it had come. Jace was quite glad to see His Majesty in turmoil over Sarah's words— after all, she had every right to say them. He was also a bit concerned, however, since simple words like that could drive His Majesty back into insanity.

He made a mental note to remind Sarah of this and said airily, "Majesty, there is something I must confess as well. While you were ill, Princess took amazingly good care of you."

That certainly did the trick; Jareth's face, flaming red with anger, blanched to the colour of porridge. He swore quietly under his breath and brought a hand up to his mouth, deep in thought. "You're excused."

Jace bowed and left with a genuine smirk on his face. He hadn't technically lied, really— Sarah truly had taken care of him… after she'd barged in and discovered him, anyway.

And this is what she's burdened herself with, Jace thought bitterly, to save a man who beat her.

_Bruises heal, Jace, whip wounds don't._

How right she was.

* * *

Jace, upon visiting Sarah in the infirmary at lunch, didn't see His Majesty come in. Clearly, that had been his intention, since the only way to get to the infirmary was to pass the servant's quarters. Though he wasn't particularly complaining— he was alone with Sarah, who was sitting in a chair by the window chatting happily with him about checking up on the Labyrinth tomorrow. Jace was shocked at how she could still smile. The dwarf was right, he concluded, Sarah was far too strong for her own good.

"… And I'd like to visit the Goblins again," Sarah said, letting out a musical giggle that made Jace hot and bothered all over again. "They were so sweet— and it looks like their little game of 'Pretend' is still on track."

"I'd assume," Jace said, hating the way she was leaning forward so that her back didn't graze the chair. "Why don't you let Korrigan get rid of your wounds?"

Her face sobered. "Because I want the Goblin King to see them. He's perfectly capable of feeling guilt."

_And I want him to drown in it._

Sarah slowly began to get up, a muscle jumping in her jaw at the pain. Jace quickly held out his arm for her to grip for balance and said, "What are you doing, princess?"

"I've been sitting in this stupid chair for hours; I wanna leave," Sarah said irritably. "Let's sneak out."

"As much fun as that sounds, princess, you need to stay," Jace said firmly.

"But I'm _bored_," Sarah whined, plunking her head on his shoulder without warning. "I want to play hide-and-seek."

Jace suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace, not roughly and not tightly enough to hurt her further. "You're too strong for your own good, princess."

"You're the third person who's told me that," Sarah said, wondering why Jace was suddenly interested in hugging her so much.

"And all three of us were correct," Jace replied swiftly. "You have been hit twice and whipped by His Majesty, your husband, and yet you have not cried once."

Jace felt Sarah stiffen in his embrace, and if he glanced down he'd see Sarah's eyes widened and her mouth open.

"But Jace, I have to stay strong," Sarah protested, her voice already shaking. "If I don't, and I cry, then h-he'll break me." And she buried her face into his chest and Jace could feel underneath his arms her shoulders start to shake violently. Jace quickly scooped her up when she let out her first sob in two weeks since the fall of the Labyrinth and its King and laid her out on the bed, clumsily crouched down next to her so that she could cry into his jacket.

"D-don't leave!" Sarah cried, gripping Jace's jacket even tighter and tugging him closer. "Stay w-with me please."

Jace obediently slid next to her on the bed awkwardly, and she pulled herself up so that her face was in his shoulder and she was lying diagonally over him. He ignored the arousal her breasts pressing up against his chest was creating and placed on hand on the back of her head and the other on her arm, drawing comforting patterns with his fingers. After a few minutes of sobbing Sarah quietened, until her eyes were heavy and sore from crying and she wanted to fall asleep.

"Jace?" she mumbled, not opening her eyes.

"Yes princess?" Jace said, his voice thick with exhaustion— clearly he'd been on the verge of sleep.

"I love you." This startled Jace to full alert. "You're my only family here, and I love you for it."

Jace relaxed again as Sarah drifted off, and he sighed and rubbed at his eyes with his hand. Sarah loved him as family.

He decided, after placing a chaste kiss upon the top of her head, that he could definitely live with that.

* * *

Sarah woke alone, except for the little note next to her nose. She sat up too quickly, winced at the burning pain in her back and plucked the note from the sheets.

_I love you too, J._

Sarah bit her lip and giggled when she remembered what she'd said a few hours ago not quite in unconsciousness. She'd never meant to say it, but when she had, it was sincere— Jace was like the older brother she never had.

Sarah saddened when she thought of Toby but a sudden grunting noise pulled her out of her sudden depression. She rose from the bed and stiffly walked over to the chair, where she saw a minute little creature hanging from two furry hands on the windowsill. He was chubby and dressed in garments of orange, with a cute little hat to match, and he was furry all over, with a tiny button snout and nose like a racoon. The little creature lost his grip on the windowsill and began to fall, and Sarah quickly stuck out her hand to catch him.

"Hello," Sarah and, in a quiet voice. He looked up at her with big yellow eyes wide with awe.

"I's-a lost," he sniffled, plopping down on his rear in her palm.

"Where are you going?" Sarah asked him kindly.

"Flowers," he said, taking off his hand and wringing it out in his hands while still looking up at her with big googly eyes. "Grass, and trees."

"The garden?" Sarah guessed, and he nodded vigorously and stuffed his hat back on his head. "That's not that far."

She carried him over to the window and pointed outside, where Sarah got an amazing view of Hoggle's garden.

"The Queen's white moon," he started to sing in a tiny voice, a smile growing. "The moon for the bride and groom."

Sarah had no idea what he was talking about, so instead she asked, "What are you exactly?"

"I's a brownie," he said, pointing at his chest vigorously. "Peep."

"Is that your name?"

He pointed to his chest again. "Peep."

"Well all right then, Peep."

"Could I's please have some lemon?" Peep asked hopefully, grabbing his feet and rocking on his bottom. "Water with lemon?"

Sarah suddenly remembered something she'd read about brownies ages ago, when she'd still been interested in magical things. She carried Peep in her cupped palm and left the infirmary, not caring what Korrigan had said and praying to God she didn't run into Jareth. She went to the kitchens and requested a glass of water with lemon, while little Peep stayed in her hand singing, "The Queen's white moon; the moon for the bride and groom…" A female servant gave it to her, and she hurried back to the infirmary in case Korrigan noticed she was gone.

Sarah set Peep on the windowsill and dipped her finger in the glass.

At that moment Korrigan emerged. "What the heck are you doing?"

Sarah let the water from her finger drop until it formed a bead on the windowsill, at which Peep let out a happy cry when he saw and hurried over to it. Sarah giggled when he went into a squatting position with her arms extended, waiting for the second bead, and then giving a little cheer when she dripped another a centimetre away from the first.

"This is Peep, he's a brownie," Sarah explained, creating a path of beads that led to the edge of the windowsill. "When brownies get lost, you can help guide them by making a trail with lemon and water."

Peep reached the edge of the windowsill and did a little happy dance when he finally noticed the garden. Then he turned to her and gave her a big grin.

"I'll be's your friend now," said Peep happily, before jumping out of view.

Sarah giggled and waved down to him just as a certain someone came through the door.

* * *

Jareth wanted his wife, damn it.

Ever since Jace had told him of what Sarah had done for him when he'd been ill, throughout the afternoon he'd felt a terrible feeling of guilt that threatened to explode him. He'd tried to reason with himself that she'd had to be punished, it was necessary, but a voice in his head argued its case rather loudly, _You only did it because you have one hell of a temper._

That was true as well, he decided, and so the next couple of hours were spent neglecting the mischief of his Goblins and ignoring urgent calls from other Kings and subjects to stay flopped in his throne hating himself. He spent the first few hours replaying last night's whipping scene, then fantasizing a scene in which he'd kept his temper under total control and instead of a whipping it had turned to mind-blowing sex. Then he spent the last hour or two torturing himself by imagining Sarah naked underneath him. By the first half hour his erection had started to get painful.

Now he almost sprinted to the infirmary, set on dropping to his knees and sobbing and begging for forgiveness, and yet the moment he reached the infirmary door all of that was wiped away and replaced by nervousness. He couldn't do all that, for the Devil's sake, he was the Goblin King! To undermine himself like that, even to his wife, was far beneath him, and besides, he had an image to maintain.

So Jareth straightened himself out and pushed open the door regally… and nearly broke down right there. Sarah was crouched over the windowsill waving to something down in the gardens with a smile on her face.

God, that woman was too strong for her own good.

She turned with a hopeful look on her face (perhaps she was expecting that idiot servant, Jareth thought bitterly) and he watched as her face blanched on all colour and emotion. She sat down frigidly on the chair, Korrigan disappeared into his store cupboard as quickly as possible and Jareth froze in the doorway. She turned her head away from him to instead look at the window, but Jareth could see the familiar blank look on her face that he'd seen far too many times in their marriage. He cautiously approached her and knelt down next to her, eye-level with her shoulder.

"Sarah?" The words emerged from his lips without any intention to say them.

"Yes, Goblin King?" she said airily.

Ah, so she'd reverted back to calling him 'Goblin King'. That, for some reason, felt like she'd pricked his heart with a needle.

He wasn't sure how to answer her; quite frankly he was only half sure about why he was here. He wanted to see her, but he didn't want to see her while she was like this— he wanted to be with her like it was before, when they were smiling and laughing together and he actually saw an emotion in her face instead of that blasted blank look she always gave him when he punished her.

Then Jareth remembered what Jace said earlier.

"Show me your back," Jareth ordered, not harshly.

She didn't move but let Jareth unzip her dress and unravel her bandages. Jareth's brows furrowed at the sight of them; they were still swollen and red. Damn his wife and her stubbornness at letting things heal naturally, he thought angrily. He placed one hand on her shoulder, leaned forward and lightly kissed one of her welts. She inhaled sharply, not from pain but from shock. His cool lips pressing against her throbbing wound actually felt a little good, and that shamed her, but when she tried arching her back away from him all it did was give him better access and the ability to slide his hands into her dress and around her waist. She also wasn't wearing a corset, so that didn't help at all, and she also wasn't wearing a bra, which helped even less.

"Goblin King—" she choked out when he gripped her breasts tightly enough to feel good.

"Damn it, Sarah!" he half-shouted, squeezing them tighter. "Don't use my title!"

"That is what you are, isn't it?" Sarah snapped, pushing him off of her and hastily stepping away. She kept her back to him as her face saddened.

"I am Sarah Williams, Queen of Goblins." She turned to him with an almost overpowered look. "Lately I haven't been feeling much like a Queen of Goblins."

Jareth's angry look faltered again and she turned around, not wanting to look at him another second. Sarah was shocked when she heard a sigh behind her.

"I haven't been treating you much like a Queen."

Sarah's heart nearly flew out of her mouth at those words— Jareth, the ever-pompous Goblin King, was admitting a mistake as grave as that one?

She felt his hands slide around her waist and his head dropped onto her shoulder.

Sarah hesitated, "I hate you."

"I know," he said softly, and Sarah had to wonder if what she'd said above was true. Jareth was more broken about the whole thing than she was. And then an image of a starving, insane Jareth cowering from her in the corner of a filthy graphitised room exploded into her mind.

She turned around slowly, refusing to meet his eye, pressed her forehead to his and mumbled, "I don't hate you."

He hastily took her face between his hands and kissed her. Sarah remembered her earlier discovery and kissed him back— she noted how he tasted like a cinnamon cookie, and she wondered if he'd eaten one before coming to see her.

"I'm getting you the hell out of here," he growled, and with a swift motion scooped her up into his arms. She gasped out in alarm and slight pain from her back as Jareth practically stormed out of the room, ignoring Korrigan's cries of, "Wait, she needs to get better!"

Sarah was silently frightened as Jareth led her up a flight of golden spiral stairs and then down the corridor, and Sarah immediately recognized this route to be the one to their bedroom. She opened her mouth to ask why they were there when Jareth dove down to kiss her and at the same time silence her. He kicked open the door with his boot and headed right for the bed.

He set her down on the quilt and she asked, "Why are we here?"

Jareth said nothing but stepped over and closed the door slowly. Then he turned to her seriously.

"It's a secret," Jareth purred, before pouncing on her.

Sarah cried out as he pinned her to the bed with both her wrists above her head, held her legs down with his knees and kissed her hard enough for her to feel her lips bruise. She couldn't do this again; she couldn't let Jareth rape her again! It had hurt so much last time, she thought, no, she must prevent this…

"N-no," Sarah stammered against his lips, making him pause a moment. "It'll hurt again."

"I promise you that will not be the case, love," he said, already panting. He'd already been erect hours before seeing Sarah, before hearing her admit that she didn't hate him — those words alone had fuelled his desire even more —it had been a full three days since he'd made love with his wife and damn it, he wanted her _now. _But he also wanted her to want him.

"No, wait—" Sarah started, but he made sure she wasn't able to finish.

Jareth stifled her open mouth with his lips, flicked his tongue across hers that made her momentarily relax, and silently debated ripping open her dress. No, he decided after little thought, he'd savour this moment and love her slowly. This was what he'd been waiting for all day, right?

His hands slid underneath her back and gently tugged her already unzipped dress from her shoulders, slowly so that it wouldn't hurt her. Jareth's intentions had been to take the dress off of her completely and _then _fondle her, but the sight of her pair of perfectly rounded breasts made him skip ahead and grasp them softly. He enjoyed the little sighs his wife was emitting as he rolled and rubbed both of her nipples with the centres of his palms and the sight of her back arching into his hands. Silently, she was asking for more, and Jareth was all too happy to oblige.

Sarah gasped and her stomach jerked as one of Jareth's hands slid over her stomach and into her panties, down to the place that had just started to ache, in a good or bad way Sarah wasn't entirely sure, and she clamped her mouth shut, refusing to moan when Jareth gently parted her folds with two fingers and rubbed gently inside. Sarah was ashamed to discover she was already wet. Jareth seemed to sense her reluctance to make a noise and pressed harder, making her body spasm slightly and a whimper to escape her lips. She felt him smirk against her mouth and his free hand left her breast to gently tug down her dress below her hips.

Sarah snapped back to reality when she remembered the pain she'd been in three days ago and she quickly pressed her hands to his chest, accidentally scraping her nails lightly over his nipples. She watched in awe when he shivered at her touch and growled into her mouth. So, he was as sensitive there as she was, Sarah noted. Unfortunately for her it only encouraged Jareth to continue down the path they were on and make him speed up his schedule, and Sarah found both herself and Jareth completely without clothing now. Since it was still daylight outside she could see literally _everything _about Jareth. She'd never actually seen Jareth bare before (last time in both the bath and in bed she'd avoided looking at all costs) and she felt a blush creeping up on her cheeks that went unnoticed by Jareth.

The moment Jareth's hands gripped her hips Sarah knew the next step was coming, and she began to panic. She didn't even have time to say the word 'no' that Jareth probably wouldn't have listened to anyway before he thrust himself into her.

And Sarah felt nothing. No pain, no pleasure, absolutely nothing. He pulled out and thrust in again, and Sarah still felt nothing. She almost wondered if this was normal, if the second time you weren't supposed to feel anything. And then slowly, as Jareth continued to move in and out, she felt a stab of pleasure that made her jerk underneath him, and it began to gradually build until she thought she would die from it. She slid her arms around Jareth's neck and arched into him, meeting his thrusts with extreme enthusiasm, and moaning an erotic chant into his ear.

Her response stimulated him; he groaned and scooped her up so that they were both sitting up and she had both of her legs wrapped around his hips, so that he could push into her even deeper. Jareth pushed her up against the headboard and pushed into her deeper still, and her moan of ecstasy nearly drove him over the edge.

"Say my name," he whispered harshly.

"Jareth," she whispered, her entire body on fire.

He groaned again and began sucking on her neck in sync to his thrusts. "Again."

"Jareth…" she sighed, her hands travelling up to his head and her fingers disappearing into his mane of straw coloured hair.

He came at the sound of his name, shuddering on top of her and releasing his fluids into her again. He kept going, even though he was panting hard already.

"Again!" he growled.

"Jareth, Jareth, Jareth!" Sarah practically sang, before throwing back her head and singing her release to the sky as she had her first orgasm. It crashed over her like an ocean wave and made her whole body shake with bliss.

The two of them fell back onto the pillows locked in an embrace, panting like they'd run a marathon. It wasn't until a half hour later, when Jareth was sound asleep next to her and she was on the verge of unconsciousness that she felt a wave of horror wash over her. What the hell had just happened?

**A/N: you guys are lucky for this chapter: i neglected the other unfinished stories to write it simply because of the AWESOME REVIEWS I GOT :DD Special thanks to: Grey Kindle, Ree923, chemical-love, Kuroneko as always (;D) Dino Danni and last but not least MegaKat, whose review made me burst out laughing XD ahem no Kat, she did not break his jaw, and she certainly did not break his... kajones XD interesting synonym btw. **

**PS special thanks to I Agree, not one of my reviewers, who has a bit of a temper when it comes to worthless reviews (and cannot accept a compliment to save their life) but still wrote a wonderful fic and i think they deserve credit. even if they did block me -_-' **


	10. The Perfect Wife

Chapter 10

The Perfect Wife

Jareth woke rather early in the morning with Sarah in his embrace, her face buried in his shoulder and her lips parted against his neck. She was still beautiful, despite that unsightly combination of a bruise and a scrape on her cheek. He smiled in spite of himself and happily gripped her wonderfully naked body tighter to his own. He was pretty sure last night made up for everything that had happened, since Sarah had responded so well. Just thinking about the previous night was arousing him.

He wanted to wake her so that he could make love to her again, but he didn't want to bother her, so instead he satisfied himself by reaching down underneath the sheets and gently slipping one finger into her folds. It didn't help much; if anything, her tiny moan of pleasure in her sleep made him even harder. She awoke by herself a little after Jareth removed his hand, her womanhood aching again.

"Good morning, my beautiful love," he crooned in her ear, nearly overjoyed that she was awake so that he could alleviate his want, which had started to get rather painful.

"G-good morning," she stammered nervously, immediately remembering why Jareth was in such a good mood. She also remembered that she was naked when she felt the light burning of pain from her still rather new whip wounds.

"Why so nervous, love?" he cooed.

Sarah didn't answer but instead buried her face into his shoulder, half to hide her gradually reddening face, half to shut him up. She felt him smile into her hair, and for a moment she felt a thrill of pride at what she'd sacrificed just to keep Jareth alive, sane and happy. She wished for a brief moment she could tell Jareth everything, just so that he'd think twice about hitting her or Jace.

Jareth began nibbling insistently on a spot right beneath where her jaw connected to her ear, and Sarah arched her head back to give him better access before her common sense returned. In her head a war was being fought— her mind was screaming 'what the hell are you doing, letting him take you like this again?!' while the aching between her legs was pressing, 'just let him take you, let him love you, it's not like it's going to hurt anybody'.

In the end temptation won, and soon Jareth was inside her again, ravishing her and making her feel carnal pleasures that until the previous night she hadn't even known existed. Sarah climaxed a second time in a matter of hours, her body shuddering violently, skin covered in a sheen of perspiration and head thrown back to scream her release.

Before long the two of them were curled up again, panting, while Sarah had her jaw dropped and eyes wide with horror at what she'd just let Jareth do again.

"I wish we could stay like this all day," Jareth sighed, as she gaped into his neck.

_I don't._

Jareth sighed a second time and rather unwillingly untwined his arms from Sarah and sat up.

"Join me in the bath?" he asked, so innocently and naturally it made Sarah blush.

"I washed my hair yesterday," she said quietly. It wasn't a lie either— Korrigan had washed out her hair in a plastic bucket while she'd been in the infirmary, since she'd been too sore to get into a regular bath (and since Korrigan refused to let her out of his sight). But she didn't want to mention the infirmary; it might piss Jareth off again enough to land her back in there.

Jareth swept over and placed a chaste kiss on her mouth. "In that case I shall see you this afternoon for lunch."

_So, he's ordering me to lunch again? _"Okay."

Jareth stood up and swept Sarah off the bed and cradled her in his arms, starting toward the wardrobe. He momentarily glanced down at his wife and nearly moaned aloud at her beauty— her hair partly curled around his arm or spread out over her chest, breasts bare, full and begging to be worshipped and cruel jade eyes half closed seductively. He scanned over the bruise/scrape again and wished he hadn't hit her hard enough to break the skin. The corner of his mouth twitched upward when she caught him staring and turned her head, cheeks reddened becomingly.

Jareth sighed as he set her down and began to dress her, thinking, _Sarah's so beautiful; it's amazing how I can refrain from making love to her as much as I do._

* * *

"Korrigan, I have…" Sarah started hesitantly. "I have something personal to ask you."

"What is it, Milady?"

Sarah hesitated. "Well, as you might know… um, Jareth and I have…" Her throat closed and her cheeks flushed.

Korrigan nodded seriously. "With His Majesty's libido, I didn't doubt that."

Sarah swallowed. "I was wondering… the second and third time we… did it… why did I respond so well?"

After Jareth had dressed her Sarah had practically bolted out of there in case he decided to rip her new lead-coloured dress off again and had started to search for Jace to ask him the very same question. Then she'd decided that would make it far too awkward between her and Jace, if he took it the wrong way, and instead hurried to the infirmary to seek out Korrigan's counsel, since she rarely saw him anyway (although if Jareth's temper was kept up she might be seeing him more than she saw Jace).

"The Fae are almost completely irresistible to humans," Korrigan said calmly, looking up at her with a sincere expression. "I can't remember if it's their scent or their touch or perhaps both… well, whatever it is, it stimulates immense sexual desire among the human of their choice. Unless, of course, the human is a virgin," he added.

Sarah felt a rush of gratitude toward the elfin physician for not flipping out at the odd subject and sat down on one of the beds. "So… Jareth is like a drug?"

"In a way, yes," he nodded.

"There's no way to counter these effects, is there?"

Korrigan did an adorable double take. "Milady, why would you want to counter the effects? Of all things you should be grateful that sex with His Majesty is more than simply bearable! You should take advantage of this instead of trying to prove that you're strong and that you can handle whip wounds, or bruises, or awful sex."

Sarah giggled at the last comment. "I'm sure Jareth wouldn't be _awful_… I just don't want to like it, that's all." She looked to the ground. "If I like it, I won't know if I'm falling in love with him or not, and I don't want to risk falling in love with a Goblin King who hits me and my friends and has a temper like an atomic bomb."

"Well to answer your question, no there is no way to counter the effects," Korrigan sighed, shaking his head. "And even if there was, I wouldn't give it to you to spare you the humility and discomfort."

"Thanks Korrigan," Sarah said, disappointed but grateful anyway. "Do you know where Jace is?"

"In the Syren Kingdom," Korrigan said. "He stopped by this morning to get a special draught that counters the effects of the Syren's Songs."

"Why is he in the Syren Kingdom?"

"His Majesty sent him there along with fifty others to settle a dispute or something," Korrigan shrugged.

Sarah felt a little sad that she couldn't hang out with Jace today, and she debated what to do instead. She could visit Hoggle again, or Wixiban (she laughed at her own thought)… or the Goblins, since she rather missed Biggle.

"Ah, I'll go check up on the Labyrinth!" Sarah said excitedly, jumping off the bed and leaving a piece of paper that fluttered to the ground unnoticed. "Bye Korrigan, thanks a lot!"

She wished herself to the Goblin Kingdom and fell directly into Jareth's lap. He looked startled for a brief moment before he grinned. "How wonderful of you to join us, precious. And I see you've found the finest seat in the room."

Sarah gave him a look and turned her head to see all the Goblins staring at her.

"Hi guys," Sarah said happily, waving.

"_HI QUEENIE_!" they all chanted happily, and four Goblins in the back started doing a little jig while Biggle came forward and grinned up at her happily.

"_Biggle missed Queenie_," he said earnestly, ashy cheeks turning a strange fuchsia colour.

"I missed you too, Biggle," Sarah laughed, allowing Jareth to move her so that she was sitting upright in his lap.

"_Queenie and Kingy happy now_?"

"_Kingy sing?"_

"_Queenie sing also?"_

"_Make Goblins happy?"_

"Yes, precious, do sing a song for us," Jareth murmured in her ear, a smirk vivid on his voice. "Perhaps _Clementine _would best suit this event."

"Whoa, wait, I am not singing!" Sarah said hastily, dividing her expression between a half-grin for the Goblins and a glare for Jareth. "Certainly not _Clementine._"

Jareth suddenly inhaled sharply, making Sarah whirl around. "What, what's wrong?"

"Dear Sarah is concerned," he smirked, looking like he couldn't be happier about it. "You needn't worry, love, I simply have another runner."

"Runner?" Sarah echoed. "For the Labyrinth?"

He nodded. "Wait here."

Sarah slid off of his lap and watched him disappear.

"_Ooh, new runny-runner!" _

"_Bye Queenie!"_

The Goblins disappeared too and reappeared only seconds later with a little girl with dark brown pigtails, who had her hands balled into fists that rubbed at her eyes while she cried. Sarah hurried over to her and dropped down to her knees. This little girl couldn't possibly be more than seven years old.

"Shh, it's okay," Sarah cooed, scooping her into a gentle embrace and letting her cry into her dress. "I won't hurt you."

"_Biggle won't hurt you either!" _said Biggle energetically, and the room was immediately filled with echoing chants of 'I won't hurt you either's!' that made the little girl cry even harder. Sarah sent them all looks that hushed them immediately and said kindly, "What's your name?"

"B-Beth," she sniffled. "Are you the beautiful Queen that the King of the Goblins fell in love with who was in the story?"

Sarah didn't remember that part of the _Labyrinth_ story, but she nodded anyway. Beth sniffled, wiped away some tears clumsily with the back of her hand and tugged on one of Sarah's curls. "You're pretty."

"Thank you," Sarah chuckled.

"What's this?" Beth asked curiously, splaying her palm against the scabbed cut and bruise that Jareth had made. Sarah didn't answer, instead scooping her up and sitting down on Jareth's throne, letting Beth snuggle into her chest. By the time Jareth returned the little girl was asleep with her thumb in her mouth.

He stood there, momentarily stunned as he saw his wife curled up with the babe that had been wished away. They had the same colour of hair, and Jareth for a moment fantasized that this was his and Sarah's child. She looked beautiful and quite motherly holding the babe.

"Jareth, you're back," she said airily, speaking in a low voice so as not to wake Beth. "What's the story this time?"

Jareth shook himself back to reality and approached her. "Teenage brother Carlos wished away this little babe to the Goblins. He's running the Labyrinth now."

"Where is he at?" Sarah said, and Jareth repressed a grin when she instinctively smoothed back one of Beth's curls from her face.

"He's still wandering around the first task," Jareth said idly, striding over to her and patting the babe's head as well. "Wondering if there's a door leading into the Labyrinth and shouting out profanities that are shocking some of the Worms and the Eye Moss."

Sarah didn't laugh but the corner of her mouth did quirk up. "So Jareth, what story did you send to Carlos?"

"_The Labyrinth_, of course."

"Well of course, but little Beth here told me that a certain 'beautiful Queen that the King of the Goblins fell in love with' was mentioned in this version." She leaned back and gave him an accusing look. "I don't recall that in my copy."

"That's because some versions are different depending on the person," Jareth said idly, shrugging off her look. "Your story was… very special." His eyes flashed.

"Ugh, and I bet it would be pointless to ask you to let Beth and Carlos go home?" Sarah sighed, trying to change the subject.

"Indeed," Jareth nodded, taking the child from her. Sarah gaped at how natural he looked holding the sleeping child. "You should go back to the Fae Kingdom, love. Not that I don't want your company—" his eyes flashed a second time and drank in her figure "— but we can't exactly do it in front of the babe… or the Goblins."

"Okay," Sarah agreed, getting up. She waved goodbye to each of the Goblins, who each in turn hit others in his or her face in order to wave back energetically, and wished herself back to the Fae Kingdom.

Sarah had only been there a few seconds, debating whether or not to go visit Hoggle, Ludo, Didymus and Tami before a familiar voice breathed, "Daughter, dear, I was looking for you!"

Sarah turned to see Queen Lavender with her lilac-coloured skirts bunched up in her hands in order to run faster towards her, her face flushed. Sarah smiled. "Lavender. Forgive me for running out on you like that last week."

"All is forgotten, dear," Queen Lavender said quickly, patting her hand. "Join me for tea?"

"Of course," Sarah said, excited to talk to Lavender again.

Sarah followed Queen Lavender up the stairs and into a quaint scarlet sitting room Sarah had never been in, where tea and biscuits were already set up. Sarah wondered if it was because Queen Lavender really wanted to talk to her, or if it was simply because of magic.

"So, how is Jareth?" Queen Lavender asked, when the two of them sat down.

"Jareth is…" Sarah started. _Fine_, she'd been going to say, but decided against it. "Jareth is as temperamental as ever."

"Indeed," Queen Lavender said rather bitterly as she poured Sarah a cup of tea that smelled rather like roses. "I heard from your servant friend — James, I think his name is — about what happened with the three of you."

"Jace," Sarah corrected. "He told you about that…"

"You needn't be worried, Daughter, I didn't bring it up to judge you. Honestly, _whipping _his wife… what exactly did you say to him that got him so angry?"

Sarah was silent for a moment. "I told him I'd hate him if he hit Jace again."

There was a very awkward pause, in which Queen Lavender stared hard at the biscuit tray and Sarah resisted the urge to squeeze her eyes shut.

"That'd do it," Queen Lavender said finally, in a soft voice. "Sarah, you must understand, you and I both know you have ever right to tell him that. But if Jareth doesn't remember being… sick," she said lamely, "then that means _he _can't understand your right to say it."

Sarah nodded. "You're right, I shouldn't have told him that."

"How are your wounds, by the way?" Queen Lavender said. "I noticed the terrible bruise on her cheek. He hit you hard enough to break the skin."

Sarah nodded but smiled in thanks. "They're fine— it just feels like a small sunburn thanks to the elfin physician Korrigan." Then she sobered. "Yes, he hit my face when I told him I hated him."

Queen Lavender nodded seriously before changing the subject. "Why exactly did you run out after I told you about Carmella?"

"When you mentioned that his baby died after thirteen hours, I remembered something from when I was born. My mother had gone into labour thirteen weeks premature, and I was apparently a sickly child that wasn't supposed to survive. But miraculously I was brought into perfect health." Sarah stared hard at the table. "I knew Jareth had saved me."

"You!" Queen Lavender suddenly gasped. "You were the babe he was so obsessed with back then, that got him into trouble!"

Sarah gave her a sad smile and nodded.

"Ironic that you would save his life after he saved yours," Queen Lavender muttered, more to herself than to Sarah.

Sarah didn't know how to answer that and compromised by taking an extra large gulp of tea and nearly choking on it.

"Has Jareth ever showed you what Carmella looked like?" Queen Lavender asked, and Sarah shook her head. "Well then, you can see for yourself."

"What?" Sarah asked blankly, wondering with a stab of fear if Queen Lavender was going to do something involving Necromancy.

"Go to the far east end of the castle on the first floor," Queen Lavender said, before handing her a gold key. "You'll find a door that's no doubt been locked by Jareth. Use this key to unlock it and find her painting."

Sarah nodded and stood up. "Thank you Lavender."

"No problem, Sarah dear. Go on then, see what she looked like."

Sarah hurried out of the room and down two flights of spiral steps, hurrying to the east end of the castle, feeling somehow nervous as she approached a black door. It looked rather ominous for some reason, and she almost didn't want to stick the key in the keyhole and turn it. It was as though she were afraid she'd see Carmella's ghost behind the door or something.

Sarah winced as the door creaked loudly, startling her slightly. This part of the castle was left unlighted, and it smelled musty and deserted. Sarah stepped into the corridor, noting how much colder it was compared to the rest of the castle.

Directly to her right was a life-size painting of the most beautiful woman Sarah had ever seen. She was tall and slender and perfect in every way— she had perfect breasts, perfect hips, perfect hair, perfect pale pink lips… perfect _everything. _She was in a white silk gown, sitting in a field of grass with the ends of her mouth curled into a secret smile. Her hair was long, golden and curled and fell below her waist, and it seemed to glow even though it was just a painting. Her skin was the perfect colour— a kind of creamy peach colour with a strawberry tint kissing both of her cheeks.

And her eyes, between thick lashes, were a searing jade colour.

Sarah took a frightened step back and flattened herself against the wall as if those emerald eyes were staring at her, if looks could kill. She brought a shaking hand to her own face and touched her eyelid uncertainly.

"Your eyes can be so cruel…" she sang in a very soft voice, almost in horror.

Carmella was almost nothing like her. Sarah felt ugly and almost disgusting next to the blond-haired beauty in the painting, and she practically sprinted out of the room, hurriedly locked the door behind her and bolted back up two flights of spiral stairs.

Queen Lavender was waiting for her patiently, and didn't look surprised when Sarah burst back into the room looking dishevelled.

"I assume you saw her then?" she said calmly, as Sarah sank back into the chair with eyes wide.

"Jareth has always told me that I have cruel eyes," Sarah said rather blankly. "I just never knew why until now."

"Carmella went out of her way to do anything for Jareth," Queen Lavender said softly. "She spoiled him rotten, gave him everything he wanted."

"I must be a complete nuisance to Jareth compared to her," Sarah said dully, feeling stupid now.

Queen Lavender leaned forward. "Carmella may have done everything for Jareth, but only you do everything for Jareth and everybody else. She spoiled him, but you're teaching him right from wrong while at the same time doing everything for the rest of the Underground."

Sarah opened her mouth to argue but found no energy to. Instead she shrugged and slumped down in her seat. She desperately wished Jace were there with her, so he could make her smile and laugh like he always did. Damn Jareth for sending him to settle some stupid dispute!

"I have to meet Jareth for lunch," she mumbled quietly, getting up again. "Thank you, Lavender, for telling me all this."

"If I'd known it would have caused you so much conflict and worry about yourself, I wouldn't have said anything," Queen Lavender said irritably, sounding like she was scolding herself. "Goodbye, daughter dear."

Sarah left and walked down the hall zombie-like down to the private dining chambers. But before she even pushed open the door a tiny comical grunting sound caught her attention, and she looked down to the ground to see Peep furiously tugging on a small daisy that had only one white petal on it.

"Hello, Peep," Sarah giggled, bending down. He did a little happy dance when he noticed her.

"I's brought you a flower!" he said happily, proudly pointing at the petal-less flower.

"Thank you… but why does it have only one petal?"

"I's lost thems when I's was dragging it through the gardens," he said, wiping his forehead. "Flower is heavy!"

Sarah smiled and pocketed the daisy. "Thank you Peep!"

He saluted her happily and bounced off down the hall, looking rather like a little tail-less squirrel. Sarah watched him leave, her mood crashing down again when she turned to the private dining room. Slowly she pushed open the doors and slithered inside. Jareth was waiting for her looking bitter and irritable. One long jagged cut went from the end of his eyebrow down his temple all the way to his chin.

"Jareth, what the hell did you do?" Sarah gasped in alarm.

"The runner," Jareth hissed through gritted teeth. "Decided he was going to steal my silver whip and try to use it on me."

"What happened to him?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"He lost, of course. The babe is now with a Fae couple."

_Ah, so he doesn't turn them into Goblins. _"You should go to the infirmary, that looks really bad."

"Nonsense," Jareth said, before he froze as Sarah strode over to him, bent over and trailed her lips down the cut, lightly enough not to hurt but still allowing him to feel all of it.

"Now will you go to the infirmary?" she whispered in a low voice.

"Fine," he muttered, sounding embarrassed for the first time. "You enchant me, you know that?"

Sarah wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she simply nodded and sat down when Jareth gestured rather insistently toward the seat to his left. Sarah had practically taken away all of his anger with just a few feather-light kisses, and by God he was going to make her stay with him as long and close as possible before he had to go back to being annoyed for the rest of the day.

* * *

After lunch Jareth started off toward the infirmary. He didn't really want to see Korrigan — he wanted to stay with his wife and maybe make love to her again — but he wanted to stay on good terms with Sarah to absolutely _ensure _he'd get to make love to her again, so he grudgingly opened the door to the infirmary.

"Majesty," Korrigan said, bowing swiftly when he entered. "What happened?"

"A runner tried to use my whip on me," Jareth said bitterly, sinking onto one of the beds. "Hurry up and get something for this– I have a lot of work to do."

Korrigan nodded and hurried off toward the store cupboard, while Jareth noticed a little scrap of parchment on the floor. He picked it up to give to Korrigan, thinking perhaps he'd dropped it, but four words and a signature in black ink caught his eye.

_I love you too, J._

Jareth realized several things at once: a) he was sitting on the bed Sarah had been in a few days ago, b) he didn't remember writing this to her c) this wasn't his handwriting and d) if he hadn't written it then the only other 'J' Sarah knew was—

When Korrigan returned with a mint leaf Jareth was gone, the door to the infirmary almost hanging off its hinges.

* * *

Sarah, meanwhile, was up in the bedroom she shared with Jareth, idly reading a book she'd found in the castle library, about the effects of Fae on humans. As she read she realized Korrigan was right: Jareth was quite literally an impossible to resist aphrodisiac and that she'd only be able to counter the effects or resist him if hell froze over.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the door banged open and Jareth swept in, looking livid.

"Hello, _love," _he hissed, and Sarah closed the book and rose from the bed.

"Why do you still have that cut?" Sarah said softly. "And what are you angry about this time?"

"I've just returned from the infirmary," he snarled. "Would you mind explaining _this _to me?"

He thrust the piece of paper at her, which she caught with the tips of her fingers and read.

"As I recall, the only other J you know is Jace."

"Jareth, you're misunderstanding again," Sarah sighed, tired of this repeating conversation.

"_Then enlighten me,_" Jareth half-shouted, but drew back a little at the expression on her face. It was a mix between exhaustion, sadness and twisted joy.

"Would you like me to tell you everything that happened in the infirmary that day?" she said quietly. Jareth swallowed and nodded, afraid of what the answer might be.

"Jace held me the entire time Korrigan was cleaning the blood off my back," Sarah said, so sharply it made Jareth wince. "He even held me after I fell asleep. When he came back a little later in the afternoon, Jace told me that I should cry." She inhaled. "So I did."

Then Sarah stared at him with a stony look. "And yes, I told him I loved him."

Jareth turned to punch something, but what stopped him was Sarah's gentle hand on his arm.

"I do love Jace," she said quietly. "But like a brother, Jareth, not romantically."

"You shouldn't even love him like that!" Jareth cursed, his voice hoarse with emotion. "He's just a servant."

"No Jareth," she said kindly. "He's my friend. But he's not the one I married."

The words were like dirt on her tongue, but they clearly brightened Jareth up considerably. He swept her into a tight embrace and pressed his lips to the top of her head.

"Forgive me, Sarah, I'm a jealous man," he breathed in her ear, relieved and glad his suspicions of Jace and Sarah hadn't been confirmed.

"I forgive you, Jareth."

He stiffened for a moment, wondering why the hell those words sounded familiar. A picture floated into his mind— he was curled up in Sarah's lap in a dark, windowless room, with graffiti carved into the walls…

Jareth decided it must have been a dream or something. It wasn't until late that night, after Jareth had finished work, the two of them were in bed and Sarah was asleep that Jareth realized Sarah had never once in her life told him she loved him.

**A/N: hehe did you like? :) special thanks to Kaytori, for reminding me about Jace's note (it otherwise would have been forgotten) and for the wonderful advice they gave for this chapter. :))**


	11. The Mother of the Forgotten Children

Chapter 11

The Mother of Forgotten Children

The next day, when Sarah woke up, the first thing she heard was the pounding of rain on the windows. She grimaced at the sound, thinking how it would be boring to stay in the castle all day, then she quickly hurried into the bathroom for a quick bath. She didn't take her time but washed her hair and cleaned her body quickly, ensuring that if Jareth woke early as well he wouldn't decide to join her despite his bath yesterday. Sarah also did herself the liberty of nicking one of Jareth's crystals to dress herself, since she couldn't tie the corset without his help and there was _no way _she was waking him.

Before Sarah left however she curiously took a couple of steps toward where Jareth was thankfully only half-nude, since they hadn't made love last night (thank God, she thought) and entwined beneath the violet silk sheets. Sarah watched him for a few moments, watched his eyelids fluttering slightly but not opening, his lips parted open slightly to reveal his shockingly pointed teeth, his flyaway golden hair strewn out over his forehead and on the pillow, and his chest rising and falling with each audible breath. Sarah, forgetting for a moment about her goal of not waking him, reached out and stroked his muscled chest with two fingers. He shivered in his sleep but didn't wake.

She thought back to when Jareth had been underfed and weak, ribs prominent. It hadn't taken him long to get back his muscle, so she suspected magic had helped him.

Sarah also reached up toward his forehead and gently pushed aside his bangs out of his face. His hand reached out, clasped her own and pulled it closer to his face, but still he didn't wake. Sarah couldn't help but smile a little— in his sleep he was rather like Toby, innocent and loving.

She reflexively leaned down to grant him a kiss on his temple, but she was immediately reminded that Jareth was not so innocent and loving. She went to draw back, but due to everything that happened with Carmella, she figured Jareth deserved this secret gift. Sarah brushed her lips over his skin lightly, and whispered, "I'm sorry I have cruel eyes," before hurrying out of the room.

Nearly the moment she turned the corner she smacked into someone.

"Jace!" she exclaimed happily, and before either of them knew it Jace was half-suffocated as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Uh, good morning, Princess," Jace said embarrassedly, glad she couldn't see his scarlet cheeks.

"I missed you yesterday," she sighed into his ear, and that made him perfectly happy to surrender to her and hug her back. "There's nothing to do today— it's raining."

Jace bit his lip as he thought back to yesterday. His Majesty had caught him in the hall in the evening before, telling him with cold eyes and a stony face that he would be stationed in the Syren Kingdom for the entire day. His first thought had been, "Fuck." His second, a little more rationalized, "I won't get to see the princess."

When His Majesty had hurried off rather nervously towards the infirmary, Jace receded to his servant's quarters and lay awake the entire night dreading the next day. His wallowing thoughts had been interrupted for a brief moment when he'd closed his eyes and remembered waking with the princess's breast in his palm. He hadn't had much time to enjoy it then, so he tried to remember what it was like. It'd been wonderful, he remembered, holding her in his palm— she was just the right size, not too big and not too small, but just right to let him almost completely cover her breast with his hand. Jace lay there, fantasizing touching her again only this time on purpose, with Sarah accepting it with pleased little moans. If ever he got the chance, he'd decided there in his bed, he knew exactly what he was going to do; first he'd grasp them, not too tightly to hurt her but enough to please her; second, he'd squeeze them both just once; third, he'd rub and roll both her nipples with his palms until she cried out from both pain and delight; and finally he'd take her swollen nipple in his mouth and suck on it until they both climaxed from that simple action.

When he'd been at the Syren Kingdom, Korrigan's special draught had certainly helped to counter the effects of the Syren's songs, but even though he'd literally been surrounded by hundreds of beautiful creatures (who were even beautiful when angry) his mind had been solely set on getting the hell out of here and getting back to the _real _beauty in his life. But when he'd returned to the castle the princess was nowhere to be found, he stormed off to his servant's quarters and sulked in his room all night.

And then he'd gotten up in the morning only to be told by another servant that he'd have to go back to the Syren Kingdom, since the Syren's hadn't accepted the treaty over the dispute they'd been trying to solve all yesterday. When Jace told Sarah this, she wrinkled her nose in disapproval, causing him to laugh.

"It's not funny!" Sarah fumed. "What if I ordered you not to go?"

"Then I'd have to stay here, but the dispute group would be a man short."

Sarah sighed irritably and said, "Fine, but tomorrow you're staying here, even if the whole Underground is on fire."

Jace laughed again at her joke and said, "I shall return at thirteen o'clock today."

"Then I'll meet you here," Sarah grinned, and treated him to one last embrace before he left Sarah standing alone in the hallway.

Grumbling to herself, Sarah went over her list of options of what to do today. Jace was out of the question now, she wasn't exactly going to visit Korrigan (he was perfectly nice, but rather pushy when it came to his infirmary) and there was _no way in hell _she was going back to the Labyrinth, since she knew Jareth was now skulking around there again. Sarah had just decided to visit Hoggle, Ludo and Didymus before she heard an aria of crying coming from around the corner and Hoggle's voice harmonizing with desperate, incoherent muttering.

Curious, Sarah turned the corner and pushed open the door to her right to find a rather small room, which was clearly a nursery or something. There were two cribs both with newborns, and at least a dozen other children with mouth open for shrill wails were surrounding a distressed-looking Hoggle who was trying to calm them down.

"Sarah, thank God yeh're here!" Hoggle croaked. "Could yeh help me out a little— never was good with cryin' babies."

Neither am I, Sarah noted to herself, thinking of Toby, but she stepped forward anyway and dropped to her knees so that she was eye-level with the children (and Hoggle). "What's wrong?"

They all stopped crying abruptly and turned to her with red faces and wet cheeks. Hoggle was stunned.

"How the hell did yeh get 'em to stop cryin' so easily?" he asked in awe.

"I don't know," Sarah said, just as shocked as he was but keeping it off of her face. "What was the matter, everyone?"

They all blinked at her confusedly before one of them piped up, "Goggle scared us."

By 'Goggle', Sarah thought, the little one must have meant 'Hoggle' who looked sour about people's inability to get his name right before he flinched under the sharp look Sarah shot him. "I didn't scare 'em, Sarah, honest!"

"Hoggle, what are all these children doing here?" Sarah said to try and change the subject.

"They're the Forgotten Children," Hoggle said quietly. "They're the kids that get wished away by people who don't beat the Labyrinth."

"But… I thought Jareth gives them to Fae couples."

"Well… that's kinda why they're called the Forgotten Children. They're the ones that nobody wants."

Sarah barely had time to process this before her thoughts were interrupted by a snide voice.

"Who are you, lady?" a little boy to Sarah's right said indignantly, crossing his arms. He looked a little like Jareth, with long flyaway blond hair and a rather prominent face, but he had two blue eyes instead of mismatched ones.

"I'm Sarah," she said automatically, and Hoggle rolled his eyes and added, "She's the Goblin Queen and the Fae Princess."

All the girls and a few of the boys gasped and stared up at her, starry-eyed. "Ooh, a real princess!"

"Um, yep," Sarah said lamely, smiling even though she felt like glaring at Hoggle. "So, why don't you all tell me your names?"

Three little blond girls who were clearly triplets beamed at her.

"I'm Emma," said the middle one confidently. "This is Jamie and this is Megan." Her two sisters smiled shyly and slightly hid behind Emma.

One by one, the eight other children said their names, and Sarah struggled to remember them all. There were two other girls, Alice and Jenna, both of whom had been staring at her with gaping mouths for the last five minutes, and then there were the seven other boys, Eric, Daniel, Emery, Max, Dominic and Victor. The last one, the boy who reminded Sarah of her husband, refused to give him her name.

"His name is David," said Emma boldly, and promptly starting screaming when David angrily began pulling on her pigtails.

"Hey now," Sarah said sharply, separating the two of them before turning to David, who had his arms crossed and his face angrily brazen. "David, you know something?" She smiled. "You look a little like someone I know."

"Who?" he muttered.

"My husband, Jareth," Sarah said, ignoring Hoggle's look of horror. "You might know him as the Goblin King."

David's irritable face slipped off his visage almost immediately, and he gawked up at her. "You… you think I look like a King?"

"Yes, I think you'll grow up to be a wonderful King," Sarah concluded with a grin, watching his face split into a smile that grew from ear to ear.

Emma suddenly latched onto her hand and pulled her over to the cribs, and Sarah couldn't help but feel a little elated when she saw two newborns snuggled up in the blankets, there lips parted adorably.

"And you'll be our mommy!" Emma said happily.

"Yes, be our mommy!"

"Mommy, can you stay and play with us?"

There were a thousand different voices shouting at her happily, and Sarah didn't have the heart to tell them that she couldn't exactly be their 'mommy', so instead she said, "Okay, I'll stay and play with you."

"I'll just be… eh, goin'," Hoggle said embarrassedly. "Y'know… hate to be away from Tami for too long."

"Tell her I said hello, please," Sarah said cheerfully, and he waved and disappeared out the door.

"Read us a story," said the tiniest voice Sarah had ever heard, and miraculously it turned out to be from David.

"Okay," Sarah said, sitting down properly and allowing all the kids to huddle around her and/or crawl over her lap. "How about I tell you all… the story of Sarah, Jareth, Toby and the Labyrinth?"

They all nodded enthusiastically, as if she was about to tell their favourite story, even though twenty minutes ago they hadn't even known she'd existed.

"Once upon a time," Sarah began, feeling like she'd done this a hundred times. "There was a girl named Sarah."

"You!" said Alice happily.

"Right, me," said Sarah with a smile. "And two years ago, she lived with her family on Earth." Their eyes all lit up at the mention of Earth. "She had a little brother named Toby. He cried a lot, and Sarah hated him for it. So one day, she wished him away to the Goblin King."

They all gasped dramatically, making Sarah want to laugh despite the lump in her throat at mentioning Toby and that awful memory. "Realizing she'd done a very bad thing, the Goblin King said she'd be able to get baby Toby back if she ran a giant maze and reached the castle in the middle before time ran out. So Sarah entered the maze and made lots of friends there." She smiled. "You all know Hoggle, right?" They nodded. "Well, he's one of the friends I met in the Labyrinth."

"Wow, Goggle's in this story too!" said Emma, looking awestruck. "He must be famous!"

Sarah laughed and continued. "She also met a very nice Rock Caller named Ludo, and a knight named Sir Didymus. Oh, and of course, a dog named Ambrosious. They all helped her get through the Labyrinth and rescue baby Toby."

"Where is Toby now?" asked Jamie.

"Toby… is still on Earth," Sarah said hesitantly.

"Then why isn't Princess Sarah on Earth too?" said David, looking desperate.

Sarah swallowed the lump in her throat and said, "Because after Sarah got Toby home, the Goblin King asked her a very important question. He… loved her, and he wanted her to stay with him, here." _And she said no and almost destroyed him and the Kingdom. _"So she said yes, and now she's a Princess and a Queen."

They were all quiet for a couple of minutes, processing this new information. Then David abruptly broke the silence by drawling, "I'm bored— let's go outside and play in the gardens."

"It's raining," Sarah said. "But I have a better idea. I bet you've all heard of hide-and-seek, right…?"

* * *

Jareth, as usual, was goddamn pissed.

He'd awoken _alone_, his bed void of his wife, which had really pressed his nerves, but what really got him to his current point of anger is a) she took a bath without him b) he didn't get to dress her and c) she wasn't at breakfast. Now he was forced to reside in the very same room where, after being ill for two years, Sarah had ran in and smacked into him. Around him and an enormous table was the Fae Council, a group with nothing better to do except drawl about every little dispute that happened in every household of the Kingdom. Personally Jareth found them all to be a bunch of stuck-up old codgers.

So, instead of listening to a single world the snob at the other end of the table was droning out, he scowled in the background about not being able to get laid in the morning and picturing a thousand different ways he could get her into his bed tonight that left him embarrassingly erect in the room.

He was still pretty upset about the note and Sarah's proclamation that she loved Jace. For the Devil's sake, she hadn't even told _him _that she loved him, and she was his husband! Jareth desperately wanted to turn over the table and shout, "FUCK!" until he was hoarse, but he knew that if he did that his reputation would be ruined and quite frankly that was more important than venting out his anger.

And then, outside in the hallway, he heard a dozen chorusing giggles mixed with the musical laugh of his wife. Jareth stood up rather abruptly and turned around, ignoring the confused stares that were digging into his back from the other Council members. Two little blond humans ran into the room and promptly ran behind his legs, giggling uncontrollably. Before he could demand to know what the hell they were doing his wife ran in after them, her cheeks flushed.

"F-forgive me everybody," she stammered, and the two children ran out from behind his legs and latched onto one of her hands each.

Their eyes briefly met; Jareth completely forgot to be angry with her and stared at her in shock like an idiot. She blushed faintly, looked away as quickly as possible and repeated in a whisper, "Forgive me," before she hurried out of the room. Her gentle but firm scolding could be heard from the room, "_You can't hide in that room, the King is having a meeting_!"

"Excuse me for a moment," Jareth hissed at the Fae Council, his anger returning tenfold. So, not only would she not tell him she loved him, she wouldn't even _look him in the eye anymore_?

He stormed outside and was about to yell at her before he froze in his tracks. Sarah had her back to him and surrounding her was the Forgotten Children. She had a little girl resting on her hip, who was playing idly with her hair, while another was swinging off of her free hand and the rest were absently tugging on her gown, laughing and smiling.

"Come on, David," Sarah said, beckoning with her head since arms were occupied at a little blond boy who refused to move.

"I don't _wanna _go back!" he wailed, stomping his foot indignantly. "I wanna keep playing hide-and-seek!"

"I promise I'll come again tomorrow," Sarah said earnestly, leaning down to kiss his forehead. "Right now I have to go meet a friend."

They all promptly began crying the same thing as they continued off down the hall, leaving Jareth behind. "B-but _I don't want you to gooo!"_

Their crying muted after a few moments of Jareth staring blankly at where Sarah and the Forgotten Children had disappeared. So, his wife had discovered the room with the Forgotten Children… under normal circumstances, her allowing them out of their rooms to float around the castle uncaringly would have really ticked him off, but clearly this was not a normal circumstance, since Jareth was unable to form coherent thought at the moment. She'd handled them so _well… _it was as though she were their mother! Jareth's breath hitched in his throat as he fantasized that those _were_ his children, and that Sarah had borne them all…

He snapped himself out of his reverie and mentally prayed, before re-entering the room for the meeting again, that Sarah would get pregnant very soon.

* * *

After the Forgotten Children were settled down, Sarah set off in search of Jace. He had to be back by now from the dispute in the Syren Kingdom, and she hoped to have lunch with him since a) she didn't want to have lunch with Jareth and b) he hadn't ordered her to.

As if on cue, upon turning the corner Sarah smacked into him the second time that day.

"Princess!" he burst out excitedly, and Sarah laughed as he swept her into a tight hug. Jace had been worrying all morning if today would be a duplicate of the previous: he'd come back to the castle and she would be preoccupied with something else.

"Welcome back, Jace," she giggled into his shoulder when he showed no signs of wanting to let go. "Would you do the honour of dining with me?"

He stiffened and pulled back to stare at her open-mouthed. "But… dining with… I'm just a servant…"

"Jace," Sarah sighed exasperatedly, hands on her hips. "I would have invited you before, but it seems we always skip lunch or Jareth orders me to dine with him." Then she gave him a sharp look. "And I order you never to say or think of yourself as 'just a servant' in my company."

Jace brightened. "Then I would be honoured." Sarah giggled again and took his arm happily, missing the old days when she and Jace were always together, exploring the Underground or visiting Hoggle.

"So, princess, what did you do today?"

Sarah bit her lip while smiling. "I… um, became the mother of the Forgotten Children."

"The Forgotten Children?" Jace echoed in amazement. "You actually were able to calm them down? The dwarf hasn't succeeded yet!"

"Hoggle looks after them?" Sarah asked, and Jace nodded.

"He has for nearly a year now, when Fae couples began to reject some of the wished-away babes," Jace explained. "They're extremely rebellious."

"I didn't think so," Sarah said curiously. "They were all so sweet. David wasn't, at first, but then I told him he looked a little like the King and he brightened."

"You have magic, princess," Jace purred, meaning for it to be flirty but Sarah took it as a simple compliment.

"I guess so," she laughed, oblivious to Jace's flirting. "So, Jace, have you ever heard of vegetarianism…?"

* * *

It was well into the evening now. She and Jace had long since finished lunch, which had been full of laughter and conversation and the occasional piece of food being thrown at the other playfully. When Jace had tossed a grape at her it had landed in her cleavage; he'd frozen momentarily when she'd reached in to fetch it, and his hesitancy had given her the opportunity to toss it back at him and hit him in the forehead, at which they'd both laughed later.

Now they were speaking in quiet voices and lounging in the sitting room Sarah had been in with Lavender, except now they were huddled close together on the couch like two schoolchildren telling secrets. Technically, Sarah was telling him a secret: she was describing Carmella to him.

"I wish I'd never gone into that part of the castle and seen the painting," Sarah admitted to him, her voice barely louder than a mumble. "She was absolutely beautiful, Jace, she was _nothing _like me, except for my eyes."

"But you are beautiful too," Jace pointed out, before he flushed at his own words.

She gave him a half-smile and replied, "Thanks Jace, but even if that's true, I'm nowhere near as gorgeous as Carmella." She sighed and slumped against the side of the couch. "Jareth always told me I have cruel eyes."

"I don't think you have cruel eyes," Jace said firmly. "Your eyes are beautiful too, and they've never once looked at someone with cruelness."

He flushed even more, scolding himself mentally for not being able to hold his tongue. Damn it, he'd spent years of training to be the perfect servant who knew perfectly well when to stop getting to close to someone (the Queen, no less!) and when to keep his mouth shut, but Sarah was quite literally becoming his undoing.

Sarah blushed too at the compliment, and Jace couldn't help but gape a little at how becoming she looked with raspberry-kissed cheeks. "Jace, you've changed so much since I first met you."

Jace almost laughed bitterly— yeah, he'd been a total stuck-up ass back then.

When she'd first smacked into him, all he'd cared about was how comely she was, and how her breasts had pressed against him.

When she'd thanked him, he'd been completely stunned, and later while in his servants quarters he'd laid on his bed wondering why she was so different from everybody else.

When she'd showed up in her nightgown to order to see His Majesty at the time of his insanity, Jace's libido had quirked up again.

When she'd sacrificed herself for His Majesty, Jace had been outright awe-struck. This woman, he'd thought, is definitely special; and clearly he wasn't the only one, since His Majesty had gone mad from heartbreak for her.

And when she'd started to become his friend, he fell into the childhood he never had, thinking about how _carefree _everything became when he was around her, how he could just succumb to desire without getting punished, to a certain extent of course. Although he still certainly had his sexual libido for a constant companion whenever in the princess's company.

Now, here they were, 'family' as Sarah had put it, exchanging secrets in a dark room lit only by the flickering firelight from the fireplace.

"Indeed princess, you changed me," Jace said bluntly, this time not flushing at the honesty of his words.

"I like you better now," Sarah said with a tentative smile, leaning forward to snuggle into his shoulder.

_Good, _he thought, settling into her embrace. _I like me better now too. _

Sarah wanted to fall asleep, but Jace wanted to stay awake for the rest of his life just to enjoy this moment. His libido, of course, kept urging him to do something, because for God's sake her breasts were _right above his hands again_, and every time she slightly adjusted her position her hip or leg rubbed against his already partially erect member, and this was both torture and bliss at the same time so why not get rid of the torture part? But Jace, like every other occasion like this, shushed his libido and both enjoyed having her in his arms and wallowed in self-pity for not being able to have her.

Sarah was on the verge of sleep before she remembered Jareth and gasped. "Oh no, what's the time?"

Jace, heart sinking for the broken moment, replied, "About seven o'clock, princess."

She tensed in his embrace and sighed irritably. "I have to go, or Jareth'll murder me and dance on my grave."

Jace couldn't help but chuckle at the joke. "Why princess?"

"I've… kind of been avoiding Jareth all day," she admitted, rising from his embrace unwillingly. "Because… well, because to him I have cruel eyes."

"Indeed," Jace said, standing up and following her out the door rather sourly. He really didn't want to leave — their embraced had been so warm and comfortable, he'd wanted to have it last forever — but he also knew that if Sarah disobeyed His Majesty again, the consequences would be dire again.

"Bye Jace," Sarah said quickly, giving him a well-deserved hug that left him dazed and hurrying up the stairs, praying she'd find Jareth in their bedroom getting ready to go to dinner and in a good mood.

But no, when she got there the room was empty. Sighing, she flopped down on the bed and awaited his arrival, wishing that she could have stayed with Jace for a few more minutes. She'd been unbelievably comfortable in his arms— and it hadn't felt wrong, like she was violating some marriage thing or something, it felt like she was snuggling with the elder brother she never had. Sarah had wanted to fall asleep like that… today had been so exhausting, with the Forgotten Children and the turmoil with Jareth.

As if she'd wished him with her mind, Jareth immediately stumbled through the open door, his clothes and hair dripping wet.

Sarah didn't meet his gaze but still hurried over to him. "Jareth, you're soaked! What happened?"

He scowled at the lack of eye contact and muttered, "One of the Forgotten Children escaped and ran off into the gardens. Took me a full hour to find him."

"Let me guess, he was blond and cocky and was rather like a younger version of a certain Goblin King?" Sarah said with a small smile, leading him into the bathroom. "Come, I'll dry you off."

Jareth didn't protest when Sarah got a towel and ordered him to sit down on the side of the tub. He could have just made himself dry with magic, but he preferred this way anyway: he hadn't touched her at all the entirety of the day. She leaned over so that Jareth could get a perfect view down her cleavage and covered his head with the towel, rubbing gently not to hurt but enough to dry his hair, a trick she'd learned bathing Toby in the Aboveground. Jareth wanted very much to reach over and pull her closer, but something kept his arms limp at his side and his gaze locked on the visible half of her breasts. He felt rather insignificant and helpless as she dried his hair in a motherly sort of way.

"Damn it Jareth, you're freezing," she hissed, when one hand lifted and touched the side of her neck.

The bath behind them immediately filled up with steaming, wonderfully warm water, and Jareth smiled at it thankfully. "What a wonderful idea."

"Jareth, I got clean this morning," Sarah said quietly, and he glared at her.

"I don't care. I'm freezing cold and I want you in there with me."

With an idle wave of his hand both of their clothes disappeared, and Jareth picked her up and stepped into the tub. Sarah heard his hiss of contentment as he submerged them both in the inviting water, and even Sarah had to suppress a moan— this felt _amazing. _

_Poor Jareth, _she couldn't help but think, as she leaned against him. Even in the warm water, his skin was still fairly cool. She snuggled against him simply to cause friction to try and warm him, but Jareth took that as a different message and reached up to grip her breasts.

Sarah's head fell back onto his shoulders and she sighed with contentment, despite her mind shouting at her to _get the hell out of there. _

"I'm sorry I have cruel eyes," came out of her mouth suddenly before she could stop it, and Jareth's hands froze.

"Is that why you won't look me in the eye anymore?" he asked on a rather irritated exhaled, and she hung her head embarrassedly, glad he couldn't see her flaming cheeks. "Precious, you may have cruel eyes, but I don't hate them. What I do hate," he added on a growl. "Is when you don't look at me with them."

"But—" she began.

"No buts," he snarled, before he whirled around, not caring if he splashed, so that she was pushed up against the side of the tub.

"Jareth—" Sarah tried again before he pushed his erect member into her with one swift motion.

Sarah lost herself again. She could barely even heard the splashing of the water as Jareth bucked his hips, or the groans he was making, or the more-than-obvious moaning she was doing. Her arms lifted of their own accord and wrapped around his neck, her fingers disappearing into his hair. Jareth kidnapped her lips to drink in her moans, and she responded to his kiss like she never had before. But _still_, he noticed with a growl, her eyes were closed.

"Don't you dare," he snarled, continuing to thrust into her and using one hand to cup her cheek and force her to look up at him. "Close your eyes when we make love."

He faltered for a few seconds while momentarily lost in the pools of emerald green, and for a moment he felt depressed looking at them. Jareth absolutely refused to let himself pretend, for just a simple moment, that he was making love to his lovely Carmella again— he would not do that to Sarah.

Sarah felt his falter and looked away immediately, but he forced her to look at him, scolded himself in his mind and slammed into her hard enough to make them both climax.

After they were dried off and in bed, they lay back to back on opposite sides of the bed, both pretending be asleep, both worrying about the same thing.

**A/N: how long has it been since i've updated? D: if it's been long i sincerely apologize! okay couple things to announce: **

**a) i have a new friend :3 OddLittlePlume. They're going to translate this fic into french :) (she's from France, and I'm from Quebec which is a French/English population, so she just happened to stumble across someone who can write in both french AND english. What are the odds?! XD lovely!) **

**b) I have a couple of titles in mind for the sequel :3 im they'll be 100 reviews AT LEAST, at the rate you guys are going! you're reviews are all wonderful and i worship you for them! 3 anyway, I want YOU guys to vote on which title you like best: 1) Splintered Words 2) Wanton Fire 3) Storms in the Darkness 4) Shadowy Heart 5) The Darkest Truth. please say which one you like best, since i cant for the life of me decide which to go with :D**

**PS thank Gorillazgurl98 for making me consider to do a one shot. It's currently up, called 'If We Shadows Have Offended' title stolen from the wonderful Mr. Shakespeare :3 yes, its M rated**

**Special thanks to: Morrigan Fantome for ranting (XD) and Ree923 for being awesome!**


	12. Love, Jareth

Chapter 12

Love, Jareth

Sarah woke to an empty bed for the first time since she'd married Jareth. Rubbing away the grit of sleep from her eyes she sat up and winced. For some reason her breasts hurt and felt swollen, and she leaned forward a little, trying to stop them from touched her nightgown. She sat in silence, wondering why Jareth wasn't cuddling with her like he always did in the morning, touching her to try and wake her up so he could fuck her again and/or snoring next to her. But the indent in the bed that usually had Jareth in it was vacant, except for a folded piece of paper with an elegant S scrawled over it. She took it curiously and opened it.

_Dearest Sarah,_

_It is unfortunate that I can't stay to see your eyes open this morning, or to dress you. That insufferable Goblin that you seem to tolerate well — Boggle or whatever his name is — barged into the room this morning while you were sleeping and informed me of a rebellion taking place between the Goblin Kingdom and the Dwarf Kingdom, and unfortunately I won't be able to make it back until nine o'clock tonight. In the meantime I request that you look after the Labyrinth in the morning, in case there are any runners._

_Love, Jareth._

Sarah chuckled at the part mentioning Biggle, and then for some reason she couldn't decide whether to smile or frown at the note. Smile, because this meant she could go to bed without Jareth hounding her about Jace or wanting to screw her brains out again; frown, because he'd written 'love Jareth'.

It was rare, she noticed, that Jareth told her he loved her— as a matter of fact, he'd only done it on two separate occasions, the first after he raped her, the second when she'd ordered him to stop whipping Jace. Although he did constantly call her 'love' among other things, like 'precious' and 'dearest'.

She also gawked at the part that asked her to look after the Labyrinth. How could she, who only a month ago was a normal college student in the Aboveground, look after a colossal Labyrinth when she didn't have any powers? And how exactly was she going to pull off the whole 'intimidation routine' that Jareth always did? She didn't exactly look the part.

Sarah inhaled sharply at the pain in her breasts again when she got up. She wondered as she shuffled over to the crystal ball on the dresser if it was because Jareth had fondled her too roughly last night. But, she noted grimly when she used the crystal ball to dress herself in a raven coloured dress and corset to try and look intimidating in case there actually was a runner, that she hadn't complained about any pain when Jareth was buried from tip to base inside her.

Sarah pocketed the crystal for later use and hurried into the bathroom, pulling down the top of the dress to her ribcage and inspected her breasts in the mirror. As she'd suspected they were swollen and red, and her nipples were engorged and sensitive. She lightly touched one and winced again.

Hoping whatever this was wasn't going to last too long, Sarah replaced the dress and, upon taking out the crystal ball again, transported herself to the Labyrinth straight into the throne room. She blinked a couple of times at the empty room, wondering where the Goblins were.

She could faintly hear snickering and a constant shushing noise, and she put her hands on her hips and said, "Hm, I wonder where the Goblins are?"

There was a scattered harmony of snickering, and Sarah smirked and began to pace. "Maybe they left with the Goblin King. Or maybe…"

She paused. "Maybe they all left me!" Sarah emitted a fake sigh and said, "Oh no, how will I go on without my precious Goblins? Surely I can't stay here— I'll just have to leave and never come back."

There was a loud shrieking sound at her words, and the large group of Goblins immediately sprinted out from behind Jareth's throne and latched themselves onto her dress.

"_Don't go, Queenie!"_

"_We was just jokin', see?"_

"_We was just hidin'."_

"_We isn't left!" _

"Calm down, everybody, relax," Sarah laughed, patting each of them on the head in turn. "As long as my Goblins didn't leave, I'll stay."

"_Yay, Queenie stay!_" cheered Biggle, and his words were echoed a few dozen times.

"Well, what should we do today everybody?" Sarah said with a smile, sitting down on the throne. They all hurried around her and sat down, looking up at her with eager eyes as if she were a teacher telling them a story.

"_We is waiting for a runny-runner!"_

"_Kingy told us so."_

"_Kingy came real early in the morning today."_

"_Kingy was sad."_

"Why was Jareth upset?" Sarah asked curiously.

"'_Cause Queenie's got cruel eyes,_" said a stray Goblin in the crowd, and they all bobbed their heads in agreement. Sarah sighed bitterly.

_Love, Jareth._

Sarah blinked, wondering why that line popped into her head. All of a sudden her chest seemed to seize up, and she clutched at it in a panic. "What's going on?"

"_Ooh, we's got a runny-runner!"_

"_Fun, fun, fun!"_

Sarah inhaled deeply, suddenly feeling very nervous about meeting a runner, took out the crystal and let it guide her back Aboveground to where the wish was coming from.

She appeared in a rather frilly pink bedroom in a shower of glitter, and had to suppress a laugh. _Geez, next thing you know I'll be turning into a barn owl and strutting around quoting 'what's said is said'. _There was a crib in the corner of the room.

In front of her was a teenager, roughly about the age Sarah was when she'd wished Toby away. She had bushy blond hair and rather thin eyebrows, and clutched to her chest was the familiar red copy of _the Labyrinth_. She didn't look scared about what was happening, like Sarah had expected her to— instead she looked rather irritated.

"Who the hell are you?" she said haughtily.

Sarah, pissed off by her tone, brought herself to fullest height and hissed, "I'm the Goblin Queen."

"The Goblin King has a wife?" the girl said, hands on her hips now.

"Got a problem with that?" Sarah asked, mimicking Jareth's calm but menacing tone. "This isn't about me, it's about the babe you just wished away to me."

"Pain in the ass little sister," the girl quipped. "What of her?"

Sarah could have hit this girl— did she not even care what happens to her sister? Sarah decided to not even grant her the courtesy of offering her dreams to her, since she'd probably take them in a heartbeat.

"Are you going to run the Labyrinth for her?" Sarah said coldly.

"No," she answered promptly. "I only said the words to see if it was true. And if it was true, I just wanted to meet the Goblin King. But if he's married…"

That was it. Sarah had been nervous about meeting a total bitch that wished away her own sister just to meet a character from a fairy tale.

"You will regret this," Sarah warned her softly. "You really will. Your family's going to come home wondering what you did with their child, and you're not going to be able to tell them the truth, because they'll lock you up."

"You're not going to… erase their memories or something?" she said worriedly, her face blanching of colour.

"I don't think you deserve the pleasure," Sarah said stonily, taking out the crystal and playing with it idly, wishing she could do that thing Jareth was able to do with his hands. "No, you'll pay in full for what you've done."

"But… I didn't mean it!" the girl wailed suddenly, looking distressed.

Sarah smirked to herself. "What's said is said. Never call upon us again, and remember this lesson forever— never take anything for granted, and never make a wish again. It might come true, but not in the way you want it to."

The girl wordlessly mouthed her desperation just as Sarah disappeared in a cascade of sparkles and reappeared in the throne room, absolutely fuming.

How could that… that _bitch _just wish away her sister like that, just to flirt with a Goblin King? It was absurd and self-centred and revolting. Anyone else who didn't truly know Sarah would have said she was just jealous that someone tried to wish herself into a date with her husband. Maybe, she realized, she was a little jealous, but that theory was immediately pounded into the ground when she sank into the throne moodily and reminded herself that she didn't marry Jareth for love.

_Love, Jareth._

Her anger seemed to dissipate into vapour immediately when she spotted a newborn little baby sitting on the floor surrounded by Goblins who were trying to make her laugh with silly faces. She blinked up at Sarah confusedly when Sarah approached her and picked her up gently. She cooed softly when Sarah cradled her in her arms, and she blinked up at her with gorgeously blue eyes.

"Hello," Sarah crooned, rocking her gently. "What's your name, little one?"

The baby cooed again in reply and tightened her fist around a lock of Sarah's hair, tugging on it gently. Sarah remembered what Jareth had said before, when Beth had been wished away. He apparently didn't turn the children into Goblins; he sent them to Fae couples. Sarah would have to find a home for this little baby too, something she'd be all too happy to do. She wondered for a brief moment as the baby granted her a brief half smile and happily began to blow bubbles, if she should let the parents name her once they accepted her into their family. No, she decided, she would be selfish and name her herself.

"What do you all think we should name this little baby?" Sarah asked the Goblins, and they all began shouting out suggestions, some of which were male names, some of which were rather vile.

"_Queenie should call baby 'Asha'," _Biggle suggested, and Sarah smiled.

"Asha," Sarah repeated. "Biggle, I think that's a beautiful name. Okay little one, you're name is now Asha," she said to the baby, who looked up at her absently, still blowing bubbles.

_Love, Jareth._

She remembered her promise to go and see the Forgotten Children she'd made yesterday. Why not take Asha along, she thought? If there were a runner she'd simply come back to the castle.

Smiling at her new idea and at the adorably little coo Asha had granted her, Sarah took out Jareth's crystal again and wished herself back to the Fae Kingdom, propping Asha up on her hip as she walked to the Forgotten Children's room.

"HI MOMMY!" screeched a dozen voices at once, startling Asha and making her cry. Sarah tried at the same time to comfort the baby while a large group of children each found a spot on her leg to attach themselves to, David in the lead.

"Hi everybody," Sarah said over Asha's wails. "Meet Asha. She was wished away too."

The group gathered around Asha, echoing comforting words like, "It's okay."

Sarah felt a sway of nausea sweep over her suddenly, and Asha's crying wasn't helping, nor was the pain in her breasts.

"Mommy, can you tell us another story?" David asked earnestly, tugging absently on her gown.

"Okay," Sarah said, trying to take even, deep breaths to stop herself from throwing up. "What story do you want to hear?"

"Cinderella," said Emma eagerly, but David shook his head.

"I want to hear what happened when Mommy was in the Labyrinth," he said keenly. "Please Mommy?"

"Why don't I tell you both?" Sarah suggested, still struggling to calm the wailing Asha. Sarah hurried over to one of the cribs and placed Asha gently in a vacant one, and she quietened almost immediately and fisted her hands around the soft silk baby blanket.

Good, Sarah thought, relieved. Then the world titled and everything went black.

* * *

Sarah woke in the infirmary with a sobbing David next to her, and her eyes stayed shut.

"It's okay, she's not dead… nothing to worry about…" Sarah heard Korrigan say desperately, in an effort to calm the child.

Sarah opened her eyes immediately and David, his red, tear-stained face scrunched up into a loud wail, hurried over to Sarah and held his arms out. Sarah sat up, shushed him gently and hoisted him up onto the bed, letting him cry into her dress and trying not to wince as he accidentally nudged her swollen breasts.

"Korrigan, what happened?" Sarah said over David's crying, patting his head.

"You collapsed while with the Forgotten Children," Korrigan explained, looking rather nervous. "I'm afraid I have… news to tell you."

"Good or bad?" Sarah asked, swiftly kissing David's blond locks in an effort to calm him.

Korrigan opened and closed his mouth several times, before his face went red. "I'm not sure, that's for you to decide…"

Sarah suddenly began to put the pieces together; swollen breasts, nauseous feelings…

"Korrigan," Sarah said in a low voice, suddenly breaking out into a cold sweat. "I'm pregnant, aren't I?"

Korrigan nodded, avoiding her eyes. "Two weeks along, in fact."

David sniffled, raised his head and mumbled, "Baby?"

"Yes David," Sarah said, her voice sounding hollow. "Baby."

"Do you want me to tell His Majesty, or do you want to tell him?" Korrigan asked quietly.

"No!" Sarah said quickly, starting all three of them. "No… don't tell Jareth, he can't know about this."

_LOVE, JARETH._

"If he asks, I have no choice but to tell him," Korrigan pointed out.

"Then I'll do everything to keep him from the infirmary," Sarah said, sounding almost hysterical. How could she be _pregnant_, of all things? Jareth had never used protection before, that was true, but wasn't it supposed to be hard for the Fae to procreate?

"Wh-when do you think I got pregnant, Korrigan?" Sarah stammered.

"Most likely the first time you and he…" Korrigan said, his voice trailing off embarrassedly.

So, when he raped her she'd gotten pregnant without knowing it. Sarah didn't know what was worse: being pregnant or knowing she was pregnant from a rape. Sarah wondered if she should tell anybody about this: Jace, perhaps, or Hoggle, or Queen Lavender. She decided to keep it her secret.

"Korrigan, do you have anything to counter the… more obvious pregnancy symptoms so that nobody will notice?" Sarah said hesitantly.

"I have a draught, but it will only last for the first two months of your pregnancy," Korrigan said, pulling out a bottle from his pocket. "But when your two months is up, all the symptoms are going to hit you hard, harder than normal."

Sarah nodded, deciding that pain later would be better than having Jareth walking around proudly knowing he'd succeeded, and took the potion. "It won't… harm the baby, will it?"

"Not at all," Korrigan said, before coming forward and patting the hand that wasn't holding up David comfortingly. "Milady, if it were anybody else in your position…" His voice trailed off again.

Sarah smiled at his comfort, knowing what he meant. If it were anybody else in Sarah's position, they'd probably go mad or try to kill themselves… or the baby. But Sarah didn't believe in abortion back home in the Aboveground, certainly not here in the Aboveground. It felt awful to be carrying Jareth's child, a child made from rape, but despite that it was still her child, damn it, and she wouldn't kill a defenceless life. So she downed the draught in one gulp, and immediately her nausea went away. Her breasts were still hurting, but the pain was ebbing away slightly.

"Thank you Korrigan," Sarah said, before turning back to David. "I promised you all a story, didn't I?"

David didn't move, and it took a little while for Sarah to realize he'd fallen asleep. She giggled and turned to Korrigan again, "Could you get someone to put him to bed?"

"I'll call a servant," Korrigan said, lifting David off of her, with difficulty considering he and the child were almost the same height. "In the meantime, you should eat something. I noticed you haven't eaten all day," Korrigan added with a frown.

Sarah blushed sheepishly and mumbled, "You're right." It wasn't long after lunchtime, only about three o'clock, but she'd still skipped both breakfast and lunch. She decided no longer to do that, since she was now eating for two. Then she realized something. "I'm craving French toast and maple syrup."

"You'll have cravings, even with the draught," Korrigan said, holding up the sleeping David awkwardly. "Go on, eat. Milady," he added, and Sarah smiled at him.

"Relax, Korrigan," she laughed, sweeping off the bed. "Ignore the whole title thing and order me around to high heaven. I'm more used to being ordered around than giving the orders," she added, thinking of Irene back home.

"Okay," Korrigan said, smiling too. "Go eat French toast, or whatever the heck it was you said."

Sarah saluted him, making him laugh for the first time, and she hurried out of the infirmary, eager to get that French toast. At first she didn't want to go near the private dining rooms, but then she reminded herself that Jareth was taking care of a rebellion and wouldn't be back until late in the night. After Sarah ate her French toast, which she'd drowned in maple syrup, she went up to her bedroom.

Out of sheer curiosity, Sarah grabbed two nightgowns and hurried into the bathroom. She stuffed the nightgowns into her dress where her belly was, pretending she was far along with child, and couldn't help but smile a little. She didn't look half bad with a baby bump. Her breasts didn't hurt anymore, she noted.

Sarah remembered a promise she'd made to herself while back Aboveground— she'd sworn she wouldn't have children until she could properly raise them. Now that she could, she couldn't wait to get Sarah junior out of her stomach. But something worried her; Jareth was also the father of this child. What if her baby turned out to be like him: stubborn, arrogant, temperamental and violent?

_Love, Jareth._

Sarah didn't realize that she'd said the words aloud, but she repeated them a second time. "Love, Jareth."

Would Jareth still love her after finding out that Sarah had kept her pregnancy a secret?

* * *

It was now a quarter to ten. Jareth was cold, hungry, tired and sexually strained as he dragged himself down the corridor towards his room. The rebellion between the Dwarves and the Goblins had been an absolute pain in the ass; all day he'd listened to the Dwarves yell at him for letting his Goblins parade into their kingdom and steal chickens from their farms and ale from their cellars. Jareth didn't recall seeing any extra stray chickens or ale around the castle, and when he'd pointed this out to the Dwarf King he'd gotten angry and attempted to throw something at Jareth's head.

In the moments where he was trying to tune out the Dwarves (for their sake, since if they kept pushing his temper they were going to have a _real _rebellion on their hands) he wished he could have stayed in bed with Sarah, seen her eyes open, make love to her again. He dreamed of fucking her senseless in the curtains of the willow tree in the garden, and he decided first chance he got he would drag her down there.

Now, though, he was freezing cold from having to stay in an unheated Castle Beyond the Goblin City, he was famished from not eating anything all day, he was exhausted and ready to fall asleep and never wake up, and he was extremely hard and wanting for his wife.

"Jareth, you look almost dead!" Sarah gasped, the moment he entered their bedroom sluggishly. Like she had when he'd come in sopping wet she hurried over to him, but this time he didn't give her a chance to say anything else. With as much strength as he could muster he swooped down on her and kissed her lips.

"Jareth," Sarah said worriedly, pulling away to look at him. "I think you should eat something— you look dead on your feet."

"You're probably right, love," Jareth laughed hollowly, letting her lead him towards the bed so he could sit down. "About my looking dead, I mean."

_Love, Jareth._

"Jareth, I'm serious," she said irritably, hands on her hips. "Eat something."

"Very well, I wish for a peach," he said with a grin. "And I won't eat it until you sit in my lap and feed it to me from your mouth."

"Jareth!" Sarah exclaimed, cheeks flushing red, but he looked adamant about his decision as he conjured up a peach. She grudgingly ventured over to him and sat with her legs draped over his lap, took the peach and bit into it. Avoiding chewing or making eye contact with Jareth she leaned over and pressed her mouth against his own, using her tongue to push the bit of peach into his open and awaiting mouth.

_I am pregnant with Jareth's child._

They repeated this action several times, until all but the seed of the peach was gone, and Jareth's hands had torn at the bodice of her dress and were on her breasts now. She inhaled sharply and whispered, "Jareth, your hands are freezing."

He sighed and obediently withdrew. "It has been a tiresome day, precious."

"Hang on," Sarah said, starting to peel off her clothing bit by bit. Jareth watched, quite fascinated as she practically did a strip tease in front of him. When she was completely bare she reached over and began taking off his clothing too, until he too was naked. His heart leapt at the thought of making love again, but Sarah instead forced him to lay back and drew him into her embrace. He hissed with contentment as she began to envelop him with her body— she covered his legs with her own, his back with her bare stomach, his arms with hers, until she was cuddling with him.

This is wonderful, he thought. It didn't quite beat making love, but it was certainly comfortable and made Jareth feel like Sarah loved him. That question hit him like a ton of bricks again.

"Sarah?" he said after a while, hesitantly, unsure if he wanted to break the moment.

"Hm?" she mumbled, sounding on the verge of sleep.

He was silent for a few moments. "Do you love me?"

He felt her sit up next to him, and he turned to see her staring at him incredulously. She didn't say no, but she didn't say yes either. Instead she said, "I'm your wife."

"I know that," Jareth said, rather impatiently. "But you've never once told me you loved me."

There was a pause, and then Sarah inhaled deeply.

"Of course I love you, Jareth."

He relaxed and smiled, feeling a good deal better than before. She'd finally said it. Sarah meanwhile wasn't feeling so good. She wondered if she should feel guilty for lying to Jareth, but she wasn't entirely sure it was a lie. If she had to fall in love with him, she decided she would, for the sake of the child now growing in her stomach, and for his sake, so that he wouldn't be married to a lie.

_Love, Jareth._

**A/N: Was that girl a bitch or what? :o she didn't even run the Labyrinth for little Asha! So anyway, here's another chapter that I wrote for you guys, but couldn't post it in the last 2 days cuz i was camping :p almost finished a chap for Afraid of the Dark too, if there's anyone here reading that one too. :pp PS special thanks to Grey Kindle, who i just had a stupid moment over (XD) for a minute i mixed them up with another friend who doesn't know Labyrinth and was going to shout out to them and write 'not sure if they know this movie or not' XD STUPID MOMENT! hi Kindle :3 hehe**

**PPS yes i know, Sarah's pregnant -.- for all the people that are going 'UGH it's a pregnancy fic' that's life, they've had unprotected sex the whole time and you can't expect me to just overlook such a big deal. but you needn't worry about the pregnancy thing... it might not last ;O DUN DUN DUN what am i hinting at?! D: lmao**


	13. Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don't

Chapter 13

Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don't

Jareth's dreams that night had been plagued by visions of Carmella.

The pictures of her sped rapidly before his eyes; one moment the two of them would be picnicking on the shores of Wixiban's Lake, then they'd be taking a stroll through the gardens, and then they'd be wrapped between the silk sheets, making sweet and gentle love.

Jareth awoke that morning in a cold sweat, panting a little with Sarah curled up next to him. He sat up and stared down at her through half-closed lids. She was naked, with the sheet covering just her hips and her legs. Her arms were crossed over her breasts almost protectively.

She rolled over and cooed in her sleep, "Baby…"

Jareth raised his eyebrows, wondering if she was dreaming of a baby. Jareth himself had had his fair share of fantasies of a very pregnant Sarah, her stomach ballooning from the rest of her body, and inside that stomach was a miniature version of himself…

Jareth momentarily lost himself in his fantasy before his dreams of Carmella hit him like a ton of bricks again, and he was overcome by a wave of guilt at dreaming of his dead wife and hoping his current wife would get pregnant all in the same minute.

And, he remembered with an unpleasant jolt in his stomach, he didn't remember their wedding.

"Mm…" Sarah sighed, her eyes opening to reveal beautiful emerald eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Jareth, what are you doing?"

"I don't remember our wedding."

The words were like a sharp knife slicing through the air— Sarah didn't flinch at the words, as Jareth had expected her to. It truth, he was the one who flinched, wishing he could take it back and try and repeat it with a little more tact.

"Well, that's to be expected," Sarah sighed, trying to make herself look sad when all in all she was nervous as hell, since they hadn't actually had a wedding.

"What was it like?" Jareth said, trying to reassure both her and himself by lying back down and pulling her close.

"Our wedding?" Sarah said, her eyes widening. Should she make something up, she wondered? "Our wedding… was private. It was just your family and our closest friends."

"_Your_ family didn't come to our wedding?"

Sarah bit her lip. "They don't know I'm here," and when she realized her words she threw caution to the wind and added hastily, "My father and stepmother think I've moved to… Ireland. They're the kind of people who will never believe in magic and the Underground, even if it's right in front of their faces."

Jareth pondered this for a moment. "And little Toby?"

"As far as I know, he's still with them in the Aboveground," Sarah mumbled, wishing they could change the subject. She didn't really want to talk about the brother she fought so hard to get back and could never see again.

"What did we do on our honeymoon?" Jareth asked, praying mentally that they'd had a wonderful honeymoon.

"We didn't have a honeymoon," Sarah admitted. "You got sick a few days after our wedding."

Jareth looked truly horrified with himself. "Well, we'll just have to have one now!"

Sarah laughed her enchanting laugh again, making him pause for a brief moment. "Jareth, don't be silly. You have the Kingdom to look after and I need to look after the Forgotten Children."

"Damn them all to hell," Jareth announced happily, which made Sarah gape at him and exclaim, "Jareth!"

"The first chance I get I'm getting away from my duties and pulling _you _away from those children, and we're going on a honeymoon."

Sarah blushed at his determination, knowing that his version of a 'honeymoon' would mean fucking her senseless all day long. "Fine, but not today. I promised the children yesterday I'd tell them a story, and I ended up in the infirmary before I could."

Jareth did a double take. "What were you doing in the infirmary?"

Sarah blushed, suddenly realizing what she'd said, and looked away. "Relax, Jareth. I just fainted."

Jareth eyed her suspiciously but didn't press the matter. "So, you're not angry that I don't remember our wedding?"

_No, because 'our wedding' never happened._

"No, because it's not like you forgot it purposely," Sarah assured him, shushing the voice in her head. "Really, Jareth, I'm not angry."

Jareth smiled into her hair— he really did love it when she said his name. They cuddled for a few more minutes in silence, before Jareth multitasked by dressing her and trying to resist the urge to strip her again and screw her right there on the ground.

He received a faint shock when she accompanied him to breakfast. When he'd asked why she wasn't doing her normal routine of skipping meals, Sarah granted him a half smile and said, "It's a bad habit. Figured I should break it."

After breakfast she and Jareth parted ways, and she stood in the hallway, wondering what she should do. She had no idea where Jace was, and she was pretty sure the Forgotten Children would still be asleep at this hour. She decided she hadn't visited Hoggle and Tami and the group in ages.

Sarah had just decided to visit them when she spotted Hoggle sprinting down the hallway towards her, wheezing and panting loudly.

"Srraaahh!" he choked out, tripping over his feet and landing in a heap on the ground. "Shit… Sarah, I'm glad I caught yeh!"

"What's the matter, Hoggle?" Sarah said urgently, helping him up and hoping whatever emergency this was didn't involve anybody dead or hurt.

He grabbed her hand and dragged her down the hall. "C'mon, we gotta go right now!"

"Hoggle, what is it?"

"Tami's gone into labour!" Hoggle grunted, as they ran down two flights of stairs and down the hall.

Sarah gasped and her fear vanished, and she beamed as they hurried toward the infirmary. "Hoggle, you're going to be father!"

"I know!" Hoggle cried, a smile also cracking onto his face, and they burst through the doors of the infirmary.

Tami was in the corner bed, her lower half covered in a white linen sheet, her legs spread open and her mouth letting out a melody of painful screams. Korrigan was watching between her legs intently, shouting words of encouragement. Ludo and Didymus were in the corner of the room, Ludo covering his ears at her screams and Didymus cheering, "Come, Milady, be strong!"

"I'm here, Tami!" Hoggle puffed, tripping again in anticipation to run over and hold his wife's hand. "Yeh're doin' great."

A strangled sound came out of Tami's mouth that must have been Hoggle's name, and Hoggle added, "And Sarah's here with yeh too."

Tami's sweaty face turned to Sarah and she stared at her with wide eyes. Sarah hurried over and gripped Tami's other hand, smiling encouragingly. Tami cracked out a smile too before she screamed again as another contraction hit her.

"Want… Srah… to…" Tami struggled to formed words between her grunt of pain and deep breaths.

"What is it, m'lovely?" Hoggle asked, and Sarah could have squealed at the loving nickname he'd given his wife.

"Want… Sarah… to deliver…" Tami managed to choke out before screaming again.

Hoggle and Sarah both looked at each other, both of their faces reflecting shock, and Hoggle croaked out, "Yeh want Sarah to deliver the baby?"

Tami nodded firmly, and Hoggle brightened. "Yeah, Sarah, actually that's a great idea. It'd be an honour to have Hoggle Junior here delivered by the Princess of Fae and the Queen of Goblins… and my best friend," he added sincerely.

Sarah wanted to protest, to say that she couldn't possibly deliver a child, but Tami's screams were getting closer and closer together and Sarah didn't want to disappoint them. So she squeezed Tami's hand once, said, "Okay, I'll do it."

"If anything goes wrong—" Korrigan warned.

"I'll step out of the way immediately," Sarah said, taking a deep breath before taking Korrigan's place.

Sarah was extremely embarrassed at seeing Tami's most private places exposed so, but she wanted to do this for the two of them, so she kept her eyes locked. Sarah Williams would have never guessed that, all in one month, she'd rescue a Goblin King from insanity, marry him, become the Goblin Queen, reunite with her friends, repair the Labyrinth and then deliver a Dwarven baby.

"The baby's crowning!" Sarah announced, Korrigan practically hanging over her shoulder like a dead bird.

"Be brave, my fair maiden Sarah!" Didymus shouted from the corner, brandishing his sword and accidentally slicing it through the curtain, which made Korrigan glare at him. "Apologies for that, dearest physician."

"Push Tami!" Korrigan shouted, quickly handing Sarah a towel.

The baby fell into Sarah's towel-covered hands, furiously kicking and wailing at the top of its little lungs. Sarah gawked at the little baby in her hands— she'd done it. Sarah, an enormous smile slowly splitting over her face, handed the child to Tami.

"It _is _a boy," Sarah whispered to herself. "Just like you said."

"Thank yeh, Sarah," Hoggle croaked, nearly tripping a third time in an effort to hurry over and hug her.

"Oh Hoggle," Sarah said happily, dropping to her knees and throwing her arms around Hoggle's neck. "You're a father, Hoggle!"

"Congratulations," Korrigan said with a grin, while Ludo grunted cheerfully, "Baby," and Didymus cheered again.

"What will you call him?" Sarah asked eagerly, as she and Hoggle approached the bed where Tami was loving clutching her child like she hadn't been screaming five seconds ago.

"I want you to name him," Tami said, smiling up at Sarah in a motherly sort of fashion.

Sarah blushed. "Tami, I already delivered him—"

"I want Sarah to name him too," insisted Hoggle firmly. "Go on then."

Sarah's face reddened as she felt all the eyes in the room on her. Tentatively, she suggested, "I think he looks like an Enric."

"I love it!" Tami gushed, kissing the top of her baby's head. "Hello, little Enric, welcome to the world."

"Now Tami and I discussed this too," Hoggle said, smiling proudly at his son while at the same time addressing Sarah. "We heard yeh got a newborn human baby from a runner."

Sarah resisted the urge to frown at the memory of the bitch that'd wished away little Asha. "Yes, her name is Asha."

"We want to adopt her," Tami said

Sarah's jaw dropped to the ground. "You _what_?"

"She's just a little thing," Hoggle said. "We want a boy and a girl, so might as well take the little one while she's not old enough to copy them other children." Hoggle frowned. "They're completely nuts."

"Come on, Hoggle," Sarah said. "Speaking of the Forgotten Children, I have to go see them."

"Thank yeh, Sarah," Hoggle said, hugging her again. "Yeh delivered my son and named him too."

"My own son, delivered and named by the Fae Princess," Sarah heard Tami sigh happily to herself.

"Just remember never to tell him that the Fae Princess was once a girl who took things for granted and frequently said 'it's not fair'," Sarah grinned, giving him an extra squeeze and waving to Tami, Ludo and Didymus before leaving.

Sarah wandered the halls for a bit, hoping to catch Jace and engage him in a game of hide-and-seek, since he so obviously loved the game. But she didn't find Jace.

Instead, she found a little boy sitting at the very end of the hallway when she turned the corner.

Sarah froze immediately, not making a sound. That boy at the end of the hallway looked just like… but it couldn't be him, he was Aboveground… Sarah squeezed her eyes shut tightly and opened them again, wondering if it was a hallucination, but there he was, still sitting at the end of the hall with his back to her.

"Princess, I found you!" said Jace's voice happily from behind her, but Sarah didn't take her eyes of the child. "What are you looking at?"

"Jace," said Sarah softly, her voice shaking. "What do you see at the end of the hallway?"

"Princess?" Jace said confusedly.

"Just answer the question, so I know I'm not crazy," Sarah said darkly, starting to shake a little.

Jace, to try and calm her down, looked down the hall. "I see a child sitting in the middle of the hall. Child, what are you doing? You could get stepped on," Jace called to the little boy.

He turned around and Sarah saw that it really was him; that he was _here _in the Underground of all places. He spotted her too, and his face blanched. Then his lower lip trembled and he sprinted down the corridor.

"SARAH!" he screamed, tears started to splash down his cheeks. Sarah dropped to her knees and he threw his arms around her torso.

"Oh my God, Toby!" Sarah cried, hugging her little brother tightly to her chest and letting tears spill down her face too. "Toby, what are you doing here?"

He didn't answer her, he only sobbed into her dress.

"Is this your son?" Jace said awkwardly, and Sarah chuckled through her tears.

"No Jace," she sniffled. "Meet the baby I wished away two years ago."

Jace gawked at Toby as if he were looking at a priceless hundred-pound diamond, and at that moment Jareth appeared from around the corner.

"I see you've found the babe," Jareth said idly, sending a glare of daggers at Jace.

"Jareth, what… how…?" Sarah stammered, lifting Toby up and rising off the ground.

"I'm afraid I have some grim news," Jareth announced darkly. "Jace, if you'll excuse us."

Jace bowed and Sarah gave him a look that said 'wait for me' before she followed Jareth into yet another sitting room, Toby still sobbing into her shoulder.

"This morning, when you spoke of your parents," Jareth said, gesturing to the wailing kid in her arms. "I flew Aboveground to talk some sense into them."

Sarah's stomach dropped. _Oh shit, he found out. _

"Sarah, I found him in a foster home," Jareth said quietly, avoiding her gaze. "Your father and stepmother both committed suicide."

Sarah froze, shock flooding her insides. She couldn't possibly have heard that… no, Jareth must have said something else…

"They… they _what_?" Sarah choked out, almost dropping Toby when her arms suddenly went numb.

The joy of delivering little Enric and finding a home for Asha was gone. They must have killed themselves, Sarah realized, when she'd suddenly disappeared off the face of the Earth, subject to a temperamental King and unable to visit.

Jareth nodded grimly. "I… figured I should bring him to the Underground."

Sarah, whose heart was slowly falling to pieces, managed to give Jareth the faintest of smiles. "Thank you, Jareth, for bringing him. You were right to do so."

Jareth barely brightened, but his face fell again when Sarah turned her back on him and half-stumbled half-dragged herself down the corridor and around the corner, where Jace was waiting.

"Princess…?" he said uncertainly, glancing down at her. Her face was utterly void of emotion, blank as a sheet and white as the moon, as Toby continued to sob with his tiny hands curled around her neck.

"My parents are dead, Jace," she told him quietly. "They killed themselves. Jareth rescued Toby from a foster home Aboveground."

Jace was nearly overcome by a wave of horror. Poor Sarah, he though in shock, she's far too strong for her own good… he'd always known that… Jace thought back to when His Majesty had whipped her and she'd been stuck in the infirmary for the entire day. Despite the moment being for Sarah, Jace couldn't help but feel special. She'd cried on him — not on His Majesty, her husband — and that made him consider that he might be closer to her than even His Majesty.

"My princess," Jace moaned, stumbling forward and wrapping Sarah and Toby into a warm, loving and despair-filled embrace.

Sarah's head fell into his neck and she cried silently into his neck, shoulders shaking but not making a sound. Jace curled into her, one hand on the back of her head tangled in her soft raven hair, the other hand curved around her waist so that their bodies were pressed together firmly. He felt like he too wanted to cry for her, because she was such a sweet and loving woman who didn't deserve any of the hardships and tragedies that she'd experienced, who didn't deserve to have the weight of the Underground on her shoulders and who certainly didn't deserve the immense responsibility of being Queen of one Kingdom, Princess of another, and taking care of a King that acted like a spoiled child.

Jace's embrace faltered, but only for a fraction of a second, when he realized that she also didn't deserve an awful, sex-crazed servant like him lusting after her. Was he part of her misery?

* * *

"Sarah?" Jareth said tentatively, when he entered their bedroom.

Sarah was in her nightgown, despite it being a little early in the evening, and was curled up underneath the sheets, Toby clamped to her side with one thumb shoved into his mouth.

"What is it, Jareth?" Sarah said in a hushed and sleepy voice. "I finally got Toby to quiet down and get to sleep."

"I just wanted to…" he started, before flushing and realized Sarah was looking at him with that damned blank look that she always gave him when he did something bad. "Could you perhaps refrain from looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" she said dully. "I don't have any expression on my face."

"Exactly," said Jareth irritably, sighing and walking over to her.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and laced his fingers into hers, and they simply sat there in what would have been considered silence were it not for the sounds of crickets and of Toby's laboured breathing and sniffling.

"I delivered a baby today, Jareth," Sarah said softly, just to break the silence and to get her mind off of her parents.

"Really?" said Jareth dully, not really caring since his mind was filled with grief. He leaned back and laid his head on the soft of her breasts, wishing that Toby wasn't there so that he could hold her. Jareth himself felt like he needed to be held.

"Why do you never cry on me?" he whispered, and he expected her to do _something_, like start yelling at him, or flinch or even hit him. But no, she kept that annoying blankness in her expression. "You always cry on Jace, but never me."

"I'm not afraid Jace will break me," she mumbled stonily, and instead Jareth was the one who flinched. She felt his cringe and sighed, putting one hand on top of his head and starting to run her fingers through his hair. "It's fine, Jareth, really. I don't need to cry."

Jareth couldn't respond; the pads of her fingers were trailing up and down his hairline, and for some odd reason he found it amazingly pleasurable. His head fell back and his mouth opened to let out a soft moan.

Sarah couldn't help but chuckle a little, no matter how dryly, and she felt a rush of shame when she realized that moan had turned her on. This was the first time she'd wanted him on her own, without him having to initiate things. She made a mental note to ask Korrigan in the morning whether or not that 'Fae to human aphrodisiac' thing escalated over time.

Her libido was what made Sarah lean down and kiss him all on her own, hair falling around them to shield their faces like a curtain. Jareth returned her kiss, slightly shocked; only twice had she kissed him of her own accord. The first time hadn't even been considered a kiss, and the second time had been only out of gratefulness. But now here she was, lips soft and full against his, her bangs tickling the side of his face. She tasted sweet, he noticed, like sugar, and he flicked his tongue into her mouth to get a better taste of her.

Sarah groaned against his lips, and Jareth felt his lower regions stir. With a frustrated growl he flipped himself onto his stomach and captured her lips again, this time more furiously.

"Wait," she panted, when he grasped her breasts outside her bodice. "Toby…"

Toby suddenly disappeared, and Sarah gasped. "Where is he?"

"Relax, dearest, he's in the same room as the Forgotten Children," Jareth hissed, plunging forward again.

Jareth didn't bother waiting— both of their clothes vanished and he eased his throbbing length into her with agonizing slowness. She let out the softest of moans as he began slowly thrusting in and out of her, hands squeezing and kneading her breasts in sync to his thrusts. He made slow and sweet love to her, enough to please her but not quite enough to make her climax quickly like their previous times, as the sun slowly sank and the light disappeared. He noticed the whole while with a leap of his heart that her eyes never closed once. They kept their gazes locked tightly, sending silent but more than apparent messages to each other.

"Mm, Jareth…" Sarah sighed when he pushed into her at a particular angle.

"Sarah, my darling Sarah," Jareth whispered, leaning forward and lightly nipping at her lips. "I will make you come for me now."

His thrusts sped up gradually, causing Sarah's moans to grow progressively louder and louder. Her arms curled around his neck and she arched into him when she felt the familiar build up of pressure in her abdomen. _So close…_

"Come for me, dearest," he murmured, and his words were her undoing.

Her spine curved and she screamed his name as her orgasm collapsed her, making her skin shudder and her muscles twitch. He came into her at the sound of his name, roaring his release into the night and spilling his seed into her womb. They collapsed on top of each other, sweating and panting, locked into a tight embrace.

**A/N: THERE'S GONNA BE A SEQUEL YALL! Sorry I'm just like REALLY BLEEPING EXCITED :3 you guys, you're so freaking fantastic, I'm proud to call all who favourited, followed, reviewed or simply READ Shadows Whispers and Destruction my friends :3 You're reviews made me laugh, cry and smile till I thought my face was gonna fall off :)))) Special thanks to Kyndsie, for being the 100th reviewer (spam their inbox cuz they're the one who ensured the sequel, which still hasn't been named :3), Sarah Rose 29, Odd Little Plume and whoever's reading this A/N :D also, special thanks to my best friends Sandra and Steph, who don't know that I'm thanking them cuz they don't know about this site :3**


	14. Remember Me

Chapter 14

Remember Me

"Milady!" Korrigan gasped, the second Sarah entered the infirmary. "What did he do this time?"

Sarah didn't answer immediately, but first slunk over to one of the beds and sat down, her eyes locked on the floor. She sported purple bruise on her right cheekbone, and her hand rose tentatively to experimentally press and prod it.

"He hit me again," she stated matter-of-factly, avoiding looking at Korrigan.

"Let me guess, you're not here to get it healed?" Korrigan sighed, hands on his hips.

Sarah gave him a brief half smile. "You know me too well, Korrigan."

"Well then, go on, tell me what happened."

Sarah inhaled and began to tell him.

* * *

It had all happened about an hour after they'd woken. Sarah had been the second to wake up, and she'd only been pulled from her marvellous dream of being back in college aboveground with Jace as a roommate, for some odd reason, because Jareth had decided then and there to reach below the sheets and rub her clit mercilessly.

"Jareth—" Sarah gasped, instinctively spreading out her legs for him once the fuzz cleared from her brain and she was able to realize what he was doing.

"It's about time you woke up," Jareth growled, entering her with three fingers and making her whimper. "I've been waiting for quite some time, precious. Your sleeping face is arousing."

Sarah blushed at his lewd comment and watched confusedly as his head disappeared beneath the covers. What the hell was he doing, she wondered? He fastened his hands on her hips, and Sarah cried out in alarm when she felt his soft breath blowing over her sex. Oh no— Sarah had heard of this before, and though she had been told just how good it felt, nothing could have prepared her when Jareth gently parted her folds with his tongue.

She fisted her hands around the sheets and half-moaned half-screamed as Jareth's lips clamped around her clit, sucking ruthlessly. His tongue swirled around her entrance before entering her, and she came immediately at the feeling of it, but even though she'd already reached her peak Jareth kept going. He didn't even give her a chance to come back down again but mercilessly ate her out until she climaxed a second time no less than two minutes later, hands fisting into Jareth's mane of golden hair and mouth opening to scream out her release.

Jareth emerged from underneath the sheets, a smirk on his face, his lips and the tip of his nose glistening with the juices from her twat. "Your turn."

Sarah blinked for a couple of times, wondering what he meant. And then it hit her, and she blushed furiously, feeling unbelievably nervous as she slipped underneath the covers in Jareth's place. He sat up, the quilt still perched on his head like a child playing hide-and-seek, and Sarah gulped as she took his length in her palm. She felt him shudder at her simple stroking touch and her jaw dropped, and after being momentarily glad that he could not see her expression of shock, she wondered if his sex was as sensitive as her own. Slowly and trying not to vomit, Sarah tentatively lowered her mouth to him, squeezed her eyes shut tight and brushed her lips over his tip, trying to be seductive.

His sharp inhale convinced her she was doing the right thing, and as she took his tip slowly in her mouth he laced his fingers into her raven hair and moaned aloud. She did what she once read in an erotica book (a gag gift presented to her by Jared a year ago that she'd actually taken the time to read) and swirled her tongue around him in smooth circles. He pushed his hips into her commanding mouth, panting with need now, and Sarah obediently escalated. Her mouth swirled around him with a quickening pace that had him groaning uncontrollably.

"More, my Sarah…" he gasped out.

She took him fully into her mouth again to suck him fiercely, throwing Jareth's last sanity to the wind, and he almost sobbed with the pleasure she was giving him. Jareth felt the familiar pressure gradually building inside of him, and soon he was shaking with the effort to keep from climaxing, wanting to draw this out as much as possible.

After a hard-fought battle Jareth lost it, and in a last minute effort to hold back he clenched his teeth and grunted, "Carmell—" His fluids spilled down her throat and he could have climaxed again from the feeling of her throat clenching around his length as she swallowed his release.

"— Ah," he gasped out, limbs turning to mud as he collapsed on Sarah's shoulders. God, he thought, for a woman who'd never done anything other than with him she certainly gave a good blowjob.

And then Jareth realized what had rolled off of his tongue when he'd climaxed, and he froze in horror, eyes widening.

_Oh God, what have I just done?_

Maybe Sarah didn't notice it, he hoped with all his heart, maybe she hadn't heard anything. But the stiff and solid way she was holding him was every indication that he was wrong, that she had heard perfectly.

It was all his fault, said an annoying voice in the back of his head.

"My name isn't Carmella," said Sarah blankly into his chest, her arms dropping like lead around him and she scrambled off of the bed.

Jareth growled, more at himself than at her attitude. "Sarah—"

"Save your breath," she said stonily, snatching the crystal out of the Helping Hand Holder on top of his dresser and producing for herself a midnight-blue gown.

She tried to walk out of the room half angrily half blankly, but Jareth jumped up from the bed and grabbed her hand.

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

"I'm going to see Toby," Sarah said vacantly, trying to pull out of his grip. "Since my parents are dead I figured maybe I should go visit him or something— don't you think, Goblin King?"

This angered Jareth. "Do not call me that, Sarah, you know I hate that."

"A lot of things that you do piss me off too, _Goblin King_," Sarah snapped at him, losing her vacant expression and letting out her own anger. "But I know that if I try your method and hit you, it will probably get me into the middle of a dungeon or whatever the hell it is you have in mind."

"_Dungeon_—?" Jareth choked out, using all of his self-control not to grab her neck and squeeze.

"Forgive my inadequacies, Goblin King," Sarah said bitterly. "Clearly I'm not as good at sucking your dick as your perfect first wife; forgive me if I'm not like her at all."

Jareth struck her again, smacking her hard with his knuckled across the cheek. She stumbled backwards and hit her back on his dresser, blood trickling down her cheek like a scarlet tear. But there were no tears in her eyes at all— no, Sarah straightened up, as always, and stared at him with that hard, blazing look he hated so much.

"Excuse me, Goblin King," she said darkly. "I have to go to the infirmary."

* * *

"He said _Carmella's _name at his climax?" Korrigan gawked in horror, before patting Sarah's hand in a comforting sort of way. "Whoa, Milady, that's a little…"

"Irritating?" Sarah quipped, angrily getting up to stare out at the gardens. "Why does it piss me off so much, Korrigan? How the hell can I be jealous of a woman who's been dead for eighteen years?"

"Perhaps you're starting to love His Majesty?" Korrigan suggested, and Sarah sent him a sharp look and pointed at her bleeding cheek. "…Perhaps not," he added bitterly.

Then he hesitated. "Milady, I've been considering this option for a while, but I wasn't going to tell you unless things got… out of hand."

Sarah raised her eyebrows curiously. "What is it, Korrigan?"

Korrigan began rocking on the heels of his child-like feet. "There's an Elfin sorceress I know… her name is Rini."

"What exactly would an Elfin sorceress be able to do for me?" Sarah said confusedly.

"She could wipe away His Majesty's memories."

There was a very loud pause, in which nobody spoke but the ambient noise seemed to roar in Sarah's ears.

"Make… make Jareth…?" she began, but couldn't find the voice to finish.

Korrigan nodded. "She could make him forget that he ever knew you, that you ever run his Labyrinth or became his Queen. You could take your little brother and go back Aboveground."

Sarah simply stared at the physician that ever so resembled a child, her jaw dropped to the ground, her wound made by Jareth forgotten. If Jareth didn't remember her, she could go back home… she could leave Jareth without risking his sanity or the fall of his kingdom, she could take Toby back home and restart their lives again…

"Take me to her, Korrigan," Sarah whispered. "Please."

She didn't tell Jareth where she was going, nor did she seek him out to at least tell him she was leaving at all. Hurriedly she ran upstairs from the infirmary, nicked one of Jareth's crystals off the Helping Hand Holder and hurried back down to Korrigan, who was waiting for her.

"Okay, on three," Korrigan said, gripping her arm tightly and having to stand up on tiptoe just to reach it. "One… two… three!"

Sarah blinked, and the scene before her changed from the stone walls of the infirmary to a bright green forest. Sarah squinted her eyes at the bright sunlight that pooled between the unbelievably green leaves of the trees. Only once had she ever been in a forest this green, and it had been with Jace in the Elfin Kingdom, at the Well of Penitence. She strongly suspected she and Korrigan were there now.

Korrigan tugged lightly on the sleeve of her gown and Sarah obediently followed him through the forest. It was so bright that it made her wish that she had a pair of sunglasses on, though, she realized with a silent giggle, she would look very silly wearing a pair of sunglasses along with her gown.

Korrigan led her into a clearing that reminded Sarah much of the clearing in the Rock Caller Kingdom, where Hoggle's hut was. Indeed, there was another little wooden house the size of an attic in the centre of the clearing, surrounded by a giant thicket of grass nearly as tall as her. It made Sarah wonder if the grass had ever been cut. A little path had been sliced away, leading up to a door that was half Sarah's size, and hanging on the door, suspended by a nail, was a poison-green snakeskin.

Sarah glanced down at Korrigan worriedly, and he replied, "Relax, in the Elfin Kingdom a green snakeskin from Aboveground nailed to your door means that the home in question belongs to a sorcerer or a shaman."

Sarah relaxed, barely, and inhaled deeply as Korrigan knocked on the door. There was the sound of smashing glass, a curse in what sounded like Latin, and the door opened to reveal a very short, very wrinkly old Elf. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and she donned robed of violent purple.

"Ah Korrigan," she said in a raspy voice, her thin lips quivering into what Sarah considered more of a grimace than a small smile. "Are you out of Burdoch Root already? I just sent in your last shipment two months ago."

"No, no, Rini, that's not it," Korrigan said. "May we come in?"

At the word 'we' Rini's wrinkly eyes narrowed even more, looking more like she was squinting. "Who's this?"

"My name is Sarah," Sarah introduced herself quietly.

"She's the Goblin Queen and the Fae Princess," Korrigan said stoutly. "And the Champion of the Labyrinth, but that's not important right now. Well, it is, but in a different way. Now, are you going to let us in?"

Rini's eyes narrowed even more at Sarah but she obediently stepped to the side to let them in. Korrigan waddled in and Sarah had to crouch down to fit through the door. The ceiling was uncomfortably low, and upon trying to walk with bended knees Sarah bumped her head several times. There were herbs and spiced and skins of animals hanging from rafters and propped up on shelves, and it smelled strongly of pepper in the tiny house.

Rini shut the door hard enough to make Sarah jump and hit her head again, and the old sorceress hobbled over to an old armchair and sat down.

"What brings you here, Your Majesty?" Rini said calmly.

"Sarah, please call me Sarah," Sarah said quickly, before flushing at the remembrance of why she was here. "Well…"

Sarah looked desperately at Korrigan, who piped up, "We need a potion to make someone forget certain things."

"Interesting," Rini said. "What 'certain things' do you mean, and to whom are you implying this for?"

"My husband, Jareth," Sarah said softly. "It's a long story, actually… two years ago after beating the Labyrinth, Jareth asked me to stay with him and I refused to instead return Aboveground with my baby brother.

"His Majesty went insane from the rejection in those two years," Korrigan continued for her. "And Milady and a servant named Jace were forced to modify his memory to make him believe she had accepted instead, and that he'd fallen ill shortly after marrying Milady."

"We need a potion to…" Sarah started, before her throat closed. She forced out the next words. "To make him forget ever meeting me. At all."

Rini studied the two of them closely through her half-shut eyes, before they skimmed to Sarah. "That bruise on your face was because of His Majesty, wasn't it?"

Sarah avoided her gaze and Korrigan jumped to her rescue. "That's not important. Can you make the potion for us or not?"

"Certainly," Rini said calmly. "But the real question is will Sarah be able to put it to use when it's time?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sarah said, irritation flaring up. "All right, you want the truth about why I decided this? This morning he screamed his dead wife's name while we were—" Sarah reddened, "— and then he hit me because I got angry about it. He whipped my best friend, and then whipped me because I got angry about that too. He _raped _me, and got me pregnant."

Even after hearing Sarah's misfortunes Rini's cold expression didn't change. "Very well, I do indeed have a potion just for that in stock."

She rose from the chair and hobbled into the tiny kitchen, opened a cupboard and pulled out a tiny bottle with clear liquid inside it. Rini gave it to Sarah and said, "Mix a strand of your hair with this potion, and then give him point one grams for each year he's known you. Mix it with his drink, and he'll forget you."

Sarah nodded and pocketed, wondering why she felt such an overwhelming feeling of dread in her chest. Perhaps it was simply claustrophobia from being in such a dollhouse of a home.

"Thank you, Rini," Sarah said. "What would you like in return?"

"After you leave for the Aboveground, which I'm certain you will," Rini said calmly. "Please bring me back another Aboveground snake to hang on my door. Preferably a cobra."

Sarah nodded, thinking that would be a small price to pay for freedom, and crawled out of the house as fast as she can to get back into open air.

The moment they transported back into the infirmary using the crystal, Sarah felt uncertain if she really wanted Jareth to forget about her.

"Give it here," Korrigan said, motioning for her to give him the bottle. She obliged, and winced as he jumped up and yanked out a couple of her hairs. "Hang on a minute, Milady."

He unscrewed the lid off the bottle and shoved the hairs into the bottle, where they disintegrated into the liquid immediately. "There, it's ready. When will you be administering it?"

"T-tonight at dinner, I suppose," Sarah stammered, uncertainty pooling into her belly like ice. She took it with shaking hands and left the infirmary to think it over upstairs.

Sarah didn't even get that far, however, when she collided with someone in the hall, and her heart leapt at the sound of a familiar excited voice exclaiming, "Princess!"

"Oh Jace, good," Sarah sighed, pulling him into a hug that he happily returned. "I need you right now."

Jace flushed and scolded himself mentally as his libido purred at her words, _Oh really, and what exactly, pray tell, does she require you for? Perhaps something naughty…_

"Yes, Princess?" Jace said into her hair, glad she couldn't see his flaming cheeks.

"We shouldn't discuss this in the hall," Sarah said seriously, pulling away and grabbing his wrist. "Let's go into a sitting room."

_Ah, perhaps she wants you to make furious love to her on one of the couches by the fireplace…? _

Jace told his libido to shut up as Sarah led him into a sitting room and shut the door. "Jace, I have a problem."

"Princess, is that a bruise on your face?" Jace interrupted sharply, suddenly noticing the purple mark on her cheek.

Sarah looked away. "That's not important." She pulled out the bottle with the special potion. "I just came back from the Elfin Kingdom with Korrigan. I have a potion to make Jareth forget me."

Jace's jaw almost literally dropped to the ground. "You… _what_?"

"But I don't know if I want to use it!" Sarah burst out, stomping her foot and trying not to cry. "Jareth hits me, he shouts at me, he's unbelievably temperamental… but I can't bring myself to do it!"

"Princess, I think you should do it," Jace said seriously.

He knew he was being unbelievably selfish by telling her to turn away from her gut feeling, but he couldn't help it. Jace had spent months fantasizing about His Majesty not being in the picture, and Sarah free to be his, and now was the perfect opportunity for that to come true.

"Y-you do?" Sarah stammered, shocked. "Why?"

"Because as we speak you're sporting a trophy of his wrath," Jace said softly, reaching out to gently skim his fingers over her bruise.

Sarah was silent for a moment as she leaned into his touch and debated. Then she shook her head vigorously. "No, I can't! What if it makes him go insane again? We'd all be right back where we started!"

Damn it, Jace thought bitterly, just the idea of being able to be with Sarah was making him hard and wanting, and here she was worrying about a man who just hours prior had hit her again.

"You must!" Jace urged, resisting the temptation to jump her bones right there and then. "For your own good!"

The urgency in his voice startled Sarah a little. She averted her eyes and mumbled, "I'll… I'll think about it."

Jace's heart sank into his stomach at the realization: she wasn't going to do it.

"Very well," said Jace rather disappointedly. "Think quickly."

Sarah nodded, gave him one last hug and left him in the sitting room.

* * *

"DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!" Jareth screeched at the top of his lungs, hurling a chicken across the room and ignoring its squawk of pain and protest. Goblins were huddled penguin-style into a group for comfort, wondering 'what was wrong with Kingy.'

Why, why, _why did he have to shout Carmella's name_? Ever since the day when Sarah had first found out about Carmella Jareth had been thinking of her more and more frequently, and it was starting to affect him violently. Was Sarah not good enough for him? No, of course not, what a silly thing to think… of _course _Sarah was good enough for him… she was his Champion, after all…

Perhaps, he realized with a jolt, perhaps he was finally starting to mourn her death. He hadn't really mourned her death at all eighteen years ago; no, he'd flown straight to the Aboveground and found Sarah, and she had been his barrier to stop himself from grieving. But oh, what a horrible time it was to suddenly start grieving for his first wife! He had only just, a month ago, finally woken from his two-year comatose sleep and gotten back together with his Sarah… she did not deserve to have him crying on her shoulder about his first love!

_She especially didn't deserve you yelling out Carmella's name during sex, you imbecile, _snarled a voice in the back of his head.

Jareth couldn't help but agree with that voice, no matter how worse it made him feel.

He would search for her right now in the Castle at the Fae Kingdom, he decided. He would seek her out and apologize and maybe make love to her again.

"Touch another one of my crystals and I'm chopping off your heads and serving them to the Fae Court," Jareth growled at the Goblins, before transporting himself back to the Fae Kingdom and knocking into a servant.

"A thousand pardons, Your Majesty," said a familiar voice, and Jareth noticed that it was Jace who he'd smacked into. Jareth rather felt like hitting the servant, just to relieve his anger, but he instead shoved the thought away and hurried away from him, leaving Jace's burning glare on his back unnoticed.

He spotted Sarah through the window in the gardens. She was smiling — of course she was, Jareth thought bitterly, no blow to the face would stop that — and she was talking to something in her cupped hands, upon further inspection Jareth realized was a brownie.

"Thank you for the daisy, Peep," Sarah laughed to the brownie, who was struggling to hold up a white daisy in his tiny hands. "I'll be sure to put it in a vase."

"With water and lemon?" said Peep enthusiastically.

"With water and lemon," Sarah giggled, before crouching down and letting him hop off of her hand. She watched him disappear into the grass before she idly began weaving the daisy into her hair. Jareth hurled himself out the window and grabbed her from behind, hearing her little gasp of alarm as he pinned her to the grass. His lips crashed onto her and captured them with wanton roughness.

"Mmph… Goblin King…" Sarah protested against his mouth, her voice muffled. The daisy was crushed onto the ground underneath her head.

"Sarah, my Sarah, forgive me," Jareth gasped, tearing his mouth away and plopping his head onto her chest. "You've married such an explosive of a husband."

"Yes I have," said Sarah almost coolly, before she inhaled sharply as Jareth's lips skimmed over the top of her breasts.

"Stupid… bodice… is in the way…" Jareth growled, desperately trying to tug it down away from her breasts.

"Jareth wait a minute—" Sarah gasped, when he succeeded and latched his mouth onto one nipple.

"Ah, you said my name," Jareth sighed onto her breast. "How wonderful."

"Nng…" Sarah managed to say before she gave up and succumbed to the burning desire in her chest.

Little did she or Jareth know that Jace was watching from the same window Jareth had jumped out of, and he was burning green with envy and getting hot and bothered from picturing himself in His Majesty's position as he bunched up Sarah's gown to her hips and thrust into her with a deep groan. Jace looked down at the potion bottle in his hands that he'd nicked from Sarah's gown when she'd hugged him. He knew what he had to do.

* * *

At dinnertime, Jareth was rather tired and sleepy.

"You look like you're about to fall asleep in your food," Sarah noted to him, after she'd finished and realized Jareth was practically swaying in his chair. "Go to bed."

"You're coming with me," said Jareth gruffly, his voice thick with exhaustion. Come to think of it, he was abnormally weary. It was only early evening, but it felt as though he'd been awake for days. Jareth down the rest of his wine and obediently got up, letting Sarah lead him upstairs to their bed chambers.

"Wait, you need to get dressed," Sarah protested, when he dragged her over to the bed and shoved her down.

"No," said Jareth point-blank, before collapsing onto her lap and drifting off almost immediately.

Strange, Sarah noted, she'd never seen someone fall asleep so quickly. He must have been stressed all day. Soon later, she joined him in slumber.

* * *

Sarah was shaken awake roughly by a pair of strong, gloved hands that could only have belonged to Jareth. She opened her eyes to shout at him for handling her so roughly before her voice faltered in her throat. Jareth was standing over her looking down at her with the utmost look of menace and anger.

"I don't know what you're still doing here," he snapped at her. "Get out."

"Wh-what?" Sarah stammered at him.

"Look, wench, your King just gave you an order," Jareth snarled at her. "I don't remember what the hell happened last night, but whatever _did _happen, it clearly involved a whore such as yourself." Sarah flinched at his words, and he kept going. "You should know better than to sleep in the chambers of your King." He smirked at her bruise. "Clearly, you wanted it rough last night."

"Jareth, what are you—?" Sarah gawked, before his fist collided with her forehead and she was thrown off the bed from the momentum of the blow.

"How _dare _you call your King by his first name?" Jareth half-shouted, storming over to kick her in the ribs. She whimpered at the pain but knew to comply.

"F-forgive me, Your Majesty," Sarah gasped out, scrambling off of the floor despite the protesting her ribs were doing. She ran out of the room and tripped over herself a couple of times, desperately trying to run away. Whatever the hell was in her room, whatever had taken shape of her husband… was not Jareth.

Wait, Sarah thought, skidding to a halt in the middle of the hallway as she realized what was really going on. Someone had slipped Jareth the potion, and now he had no idea who she was. The very thought made her feel faint.

Perhaps Korrigan knew a way to reverse it. The thought sent Sarah sprinting down the hallway again, colliding with several passing servants. She slipped on the spiral staircase and curled into a ball as she fell hopelessly down the stairs, pain erupting all over her already sore body.

"PRINCESS!" she heard Jace screech from far away, and Sarah began drifting in and out of consciousness. She felt something wet on her cheeks, but she didn't bother trying to identify them as she felt Jace's sturdy arms lifting her gently but urgently.

"Jace…" Sarah moaned out, curling into his warm embrace. "He doesn't remember me, Jace… make him remember me again…"

She lost consciousness again.

* * *

Sarah felt like she was floating on a cloud. It was a strange but albeit pleasant sensation; a gentle breeze was rippling over her skin, and the cloud she was lying on was soft and warm. Sarah snuggled in closer to the cloud, which moved to envelop her further. Come to think of it, the cloud was starting to feel suspiciously like skin… Sarah opened her eyes a slit, to see that she was in fact not on a cloud at all, but in someone's arms. Perhaps it was Jareth, she noted. It must be, because whoever it was had his arms around her possessively and lovingly, and quite frankly he was rather… hard in his nether regions.

"Ah, Milady, you're awake," said Korrigan's voice, and Sarah opened her eyes fully to see Korrigan standing at the foot of her bed clutching his clipboard as usual.

"Princess?" came Jace's worried voice from behind her, and it took a few moments for Sarah to realize that she was lying on him, not Jareth.

"Jace," she stated, noticing how her voice sounded almost foggy. "Korrigan. What happened, did Jareth hit me again?"

Korrigan glanced at Jace, who tightened his grip on her protectively. "Princess, don't you remember? You fell down the stairs."

Sarah gasped as the remembrance hit her like a ton of bricks, and despite the fact that she was still sore all over from falling down a flight of stairs she hurled herself out of Jace's grip and threw her arms around Korrigan.

"Korrigan, Jareth doesn't remember me anymore!" she wailed, starting to tear up. "I don't know how— I didn't give him the potion, but he d-doesn't know me anymore…"

Korrigan patted her back awkwardly as she began to sob, and Jace slowly bent down and peeled her off of the Elfin physician. Sarah surrendered into his grip and began crying into his chest, while he smoothed back her hair in an attempt to comfort her.

"Milady, if you want I can reverse the effects of the potion," Korrigan said quietly.

Sarah whipped her head around to stare at him with wet, red eyes. "Please, Korrigan, do it!"

"But… why Princess?"

It was Jace who spoke, in a tone so soft and devastated all at once Sarah had to turn her head. She'd never seen this expression of sadness on Jace's beautiful face, and to try and get rid of that expression she reached over and cupped his cheek with her hand, which he leaned into gratefully.

"I don't know, Jace," she whispered. "I honestly don't know."

"I'll start the potion," Korrigan said awkwardly, stepping into his office and leaving the two of them alone.

Sarah watched him leave and snuggled back into Jace's chest, willing herself not to cry again.

"Jace?" Sarah mumbled, after a few moments of silence.

"Yes, my Princess?"

"Can you take me to see my little brother? I miss him."

"Of course, Princess."

* * *

Jareth was brooding in his throne room, one leg draped over the side as usual while his Goblins worked up a fit in the room, drinking themselves into oblivion and poking chickens with sticks. He knew, just knew, that something was off, he just couldn't quite put his finger on it. For the past couple of hours since that whore who didn't know her place took off out of his room, Jareth had sensed something was different. He just didn't know what, and that was frustrating him immensely. He leaned back in his seat and re-counted everything: the Goblins were wreaking havoc as usual, the Labyrinth was fine, the Forgotten Children were in their rooms (abnormally quiet, since they were usually crying louder than the Goblins were being boisterous), the servants were going about their usual days… so why did it feel like things were different?

"Damn this," Jareth muttered, getting up out of his throne and transporting himself back to the Fae castle. He wanted to double-check everything in the castle; just to make sure whatever was wrong wasn't serious.

It was then that a little human boy with a full head of sunflower-coloured hair nearly knocked him over as he came pelting out one of the sitting rooms and took off down the hallway. Jareth felt the quite normal flare of irritation and was about to tell the babe off when something stopped him. That boy… Jareth could swear he'd seen him someplace before… why in fact Jareth recalled bouncing this child on his lap! Jareth frowned at the boy as he hurriedly waddled down the corridor, giggling hysterically, and with effort managed to crawl into a wardrobe and shut the door behind him.

Furrowing his brows in confusion, he started in the other direction, trying to figure out when the hell he'd played with that babe when he heard her voice laugh out, "Ready or not, here I come!" He turned to see the wench that had been in his bedroom earlier hurry out of the same sitting room, her cheeks poppy-red and flushed. Jareth watched in the shadows as she slowly stepped through the corridor, looking underneath the tables and benches and peering into the occasional room.

"Where, oh where, could Toby be?" she sighed dramatically, and from inside the wardrobe a giggle echoed.

Toby… that rang a bell in Jareth's mind. At the sound of the name an image of a laughing blond baby in red striped pyjamas playing among a group of Goblins appeared in his head, and the memory made his frown deepen.

He watched as a smirk crossed the woman's face, one of confidence and victory as her jade eyes set on the wardrobe. He'd seen that expression on that girl's face before, several times in fact… it was indeed very familiar… but how could that be possible? He knew not this woman at all, nor the child!

"Boo!" she laughed as she flung open the wardrobe doors, and the child named Toby let out a shriek of laughter as she picked him up and spun him around.

"SARAH!" he screeched, laughing uncontrollably, and she laughed too as he threaded his arms around her neck.

That name rang a bell too, and this bell rang particularly loud in Jareth's ears this time. He'd _definitely _heard that name before.

"Tell me a story, Sarah!"

Sarah smoothed back his hair. "Okay, kiddo, what story shall I read?"

"The Labibinth!"

Sarah laughed and tapped his nose, saying, "It's _the Labyrinth_, silly. Well, I suppose it won't hurt anymore to tell you that story…" and she brushed back her hair and began. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby."

Jareth blinked when he realized that that was the story he wrote; _he wrote that for her._

"And the baby was a spoiled child, and he wanted everything for himself and the young girl was practically a slave," Sarah continued, in a voice that was starting to falter.

"But what no one knew was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl," Jareth declaimed loudly, making Sarah jump. "And he had given her certain powers."

"J-Jareth," she stammered, before flushing. "I mean… Your Majesty…"

"Sarah, my Sarah," Jareth breathed, approaching her quickly and falling to his knees to envelop her and Toby. "What the hell just happened?"

* * *

Jace stormed through the halls of the castle, furious and bent on killing something. Why the hell after all the_ shit _she's taken from that bastard of a monarch would she get upset when His Majesty no longer remembered her? She could be free of that temperamental arse, away from his cruelty and abuse…

_And she could be nice and safe. Underneath you, _added his libido, which he darkly agreed with.

"I thought I'd find you moping," said a menacing and barely controlled voice from the shadows. Jace turned to see the one and only His Majesty Jareth leaning against the wall of the corridor, arms crossed and mismatched eyes practically on fire with rage.

"Good evening, Your Majesty," said Jace, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He bowed low, to which Jareth merely glared.

"You know, it's been a rather funny morning," said Jareth airily, still keeping his eyes locked on Jace. "I woke up this morning and there was a woman I'd never met in my bed. I found out later that the woman I'd apparently never met before _was my wife_."

Jace cocked his head to the side almost out of boredom. "Your Majesty?"

"It seems that I had been drugged," Jareth said coldly, swishing his hand idly. His silver riding crop appeared. "It was intended for me to forget my memories." Jareth grabbed Jace roughly by his hair and tossed him onto the ground, watching him crumple onto the floor. "And I know it was you who administered it."

"Your Majesty—" gasped Jace, before screaming in pain as the crop was brought down once on his back.

"You're lucky my wife likes you, you bastard," Jareth spat, bringing it down on him with a loud _crack _a second time. "Because if not—" _crack _"— then you would be—" _crack _"— executed!"

"MAJESTY!" Jace screamed out, and Jareth roared, "WHAT?"

He struggled to compose himself, his clothing in tatters and his back covered in open slices. "Pl-please… don't tell Princess about th-this."

"I won't," said Jareth coldly, and Jace smiled weakly. "Not for your sake, but for hers. She's been through enough hardships." The silver whip disappeared from his hands and as he began to walk back down the corridor he tossed over his shoulder, "Besides, you'll probably die of the guilt and tell her yourself in the future."

Jace swallowed the lump in his throat and urged himself to get up. He was right: how could he forgive himself?

**A/N: Okay, I know it took my FOREVER to update, but be thankful: i worked very hard on this chapter and it's a lot longer than usual, so don't be kickin me in the butt for being late :O special thanks to lots of people, um Clarus Magnus, OddLittlePlume, xXxVioletDelightsxXx, Kaytori, Grey Kindle, AkatsukiAgent9, Glitter Poisoned My Blood (EPIC NAME BTW), Kyndsie, LightShadowSeeker (my faithful reader ;D) and MegaKat :3 lotsa ppls**


	15. No One To Rock Me To Sleep

Chapter 15

No One To Rock Me To Sleep

Despite Jareth having regained his memories and everything being as it should be, one thing was out of place: Sarah hadn't seen Jace in three days since Jareth had recovered. It was as though he'd vanished into thin air, and Sarah found herself greatly missing her friend and bored without him around. Jareth was trying to relieve her boredom (and his own) however, by dragging her into the bedroom each chance he got, claiming that if he lost his memories again he wanted to get as much of her as possible. True, Sarah was glad Jareth had his memories back, but there was only so much mind-blowing sex one woman could take.

"Jareth, not now," Sarah said irritably that morning, when Jareth rolled over on the bed and gripped her breast tightly in his hand.

"Why ever not, Sarah-mine?" he cooed in her ear, squeezing her breast anyway.

"Well maybe because you woke me up three times last night to do it," Sarah reminded him, rolling over and glaring at him.

"Fine," Jareth said airily, taking his hand off of her breast. "At the very least give me the pleasure of taking a bath with you. We haven't done that in a while."

Sarah contemplated this before nodding her approval, and Jareth hopped out of bed and scooped up his wife, grinning at her cry of alarm.

"Not funny," she muttered, when he chuckled.

"On the contrary, precious, that was indeed funny," replied Jareth, strolling into the bathroom, where the tub was already filled with steaming water as expected, and climbed inside and settled her into his lap.

Jareth's rather silly grip dropped off of his face as Sarah's bare back was shown to him. Deep and rather ugly looking scars, like a zebra pattern across her back, were permanently etched into her skin. Jareth pulled her towards him and hugged her, feeling overwhelmingly guilty about whipping her and causing himself to have a silent mental panic attack when he contemplated what he would do if she ever left him.

"Sarah?" he said tentatively, after a few moments of trying to calm himself down.

"Hmmm…?" she sighed, apparently relaxed and enjoying the warmth of the bath and his embrace.

"I love you."

Sarah turned to him, cheeks flushed both with flattery and embarrassment. "You told me a billion times ever since you regained your memories."

"I wanted to tell you again," said Jareth firmly, diving down swiftly and placing a chaste and soft kiss on her lips. "And you mustn't ever forget it. Do you understand me?"

Sarah nodded and then her brows knitted together. "Jareth, what is all of this about?"

He hesitated. Should he tell her about Jace being the one to slip him the memory potion? "Sarah… I have been keeping something from you… but please do not hate me for it."

"I won't hate you," said Sarah, before thinking back idly to all the things she's been keeping from Jareth— his past insanity, for one thing. "To be honest, I've been keeping something from you as well."

Jareth blinked. "What is it?"

"You tell me first," Sarah challenged.

"I can't," Jareth muttered, chickening out in case he told her and would be responsible for her losing her best friend.

"Well, then neither can I," said Sarah, leaning into him idly.

"Fair enough," Jareth chuckled, tracing a finger over her thigh up to her waist. "Precious… was your marriage to me everything you expected?"

Sarah didn't even have to take a moment to contemplate. "Absolutely not."

"Really?" said Jareth worriedly.

"It's more than what I expected, actually," Sarah said. She wasn't lying either— when she signed that contract legally binding her to the Goblin King she'd expected their marriage to be like being married to the Devil, and she had been quite surprised to discover that the Goblin King actually had a heart, and was quite affectionate.

"Really?" repeated Jareth, this time more brightly.

Sarah giggled. "Yes, really."

Jareth happily leaned over and kissed her neck, and Sarah couldn't help but laugh when she felt him grinning stupidly against her throat. Then he paused. "It's not fair."

Sarah laughed again at his use of her old mannerism. "What's not fair?"

"You've forbidden me from your body," he grumbled into the crook of her neck, his hands slowly snaking up her stomach towards her rounded breasts. "But I am in such a mood."

"Women can get sick of sex, believe it or not," Sarah said sarcastically, but sighed nonetheless when his hands gripped her breasts softly.

"Alas, men can't," Jareth sighed dramatically, though his eyes flashed wickedly.

"I-I have to go see Toby," Sarah stammered.

"You're not going anywhere…"

* * *

Sarah stumbled through the empty corridors, feeling hot and feverish. Jareth had just taken her in the bath particularly roughly, roughly enough that she had climaxed twice and now even had ten long burning lines down her back from when Jareth had gripped her back at his own climax. She hoped to find Jace (since in her opinion he was the best way to take her mind off of Jareth trying to nail her every chance he got) but once again she skimmed through the castle and he wasn't found. She stopped on her way down a long corridor and sighed, thinking to herself that now that she was Queen she'd tear Jace limb from limb for disappearing without telling her where he was going.

And that's when she realized just where she was. Two flights down in the castle, in the east wing of the castle, in front of the large door that led to the sealed-off end where Carmella's painting was. Sarah gaped at it, painfully reminded of the painting of the woman so different and so much more beautiful than she. She noticed that she'd accidentally left the door ajar, remembering that it had once been locked and she had probably forgotten to lock it. Swallowing a lump of fear, even though there wasn't really anything to fear, Sarah gathered up her courage and reached for the door handle.

The painting of the ravishing woman that had once been Jareth's treasured wife seemed to sneer at her, mocking her as she walked by. Sarah did her best to walk straight past the painting without looking at Carmella's painting, feeling sick to her stomach. All that was ahead of the painting was a long dusty corridor patterned with faded tapestries and unlit lamps, and at the very end of the room was an azure door. Curious, Sarah hurried her steps, gripped the gold knob and pushed open the door, wondering what was in the room.

The room was indescribably beautiful. Sarah faltered slightly as she stepped into the room, gawking at it all in awe. In the corner was a mahogany four-poster canopy bed, slightly larger than the one in her bedroom, with royal blue curtain hangings and a cobalt comforter. There were roses absolutely everywhere, in vases on end tables, woven through the curtains, spread out over the fireplace… but each and every single one of them were dead and withered. Sarah guessed that they had probably been blue once, to match the rest of the room. Clearly the whole of the room had been untouched, most likely since Carmella had died.

"What," said Jareth from the door, in a hoarse and shaking voice. "Are you _doing_ here?"

Sarah spun around, to see Jareth standing in the doorway, his entire frame seeming to hulk over the room with suppressed rage and his beautiful but sharp face red from fury.

"_How dare you_?" he snarled, his voice barely a whisper and his gloved hands gripping into fists. "How _dare _you come in here?"

"Jareth—" Sarah tried to say, but he cut her off as he began to shout.

"HOW DARE YOU COME INTO THIS ROOM?" Jareth roared, and he advanced on her making Sarah feel frightened of him, like he hadn't just taken her to the peak of bliss just a half hour ago in a loving embrace. "GET OUT NOW!"

She tried saying his name again, but his arm raised and struck her hard on her temple. Sarah was unconscious before she hit the floor.

* * *

"Princess…?"

Sarah groaned and buried her head into whatever soft thing she was lying on. "Go away, Jace, I'm sleeping." Then something hit her: Jace. Her eyes flew open, and she realized that that soft thing she was lying on was Jace's lap. With an almost furious noise Sarah threw her arms around his shoulders.

"Don't _ever _do that again, damn it Jace!" Sarah half-shouted into his shoulder, feeling utterly enraged. "You were gone for almost a whole week and I had no idea where the hell you were! I hate you," she added angrily.

There was no expected sultry chuckle from Jace, nor was there an explanation. Sarah lifted her head up to give him a curious look, but her look faltered when she saw Jace's expression: it was of pure and utter devastation. She felt her heart skip a beat when she saw… could it actually be?… _tears _in Jace's eyes.

"Jace's what's the matter?" Sarah said, regretting shouting at him immediately. She placed one hand on his cheek in an effort to comfort him and added hastily, "Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you… I don't hate you—"

"Oh, my Princess," Jace half-cried half-whispered, and he did the unexpected: kissed her temple lovingly and drew her into the softest Sarah had ever been in. Sarah brought one hand to her temple where Jace had kissed it, wondering why his kiss had hurt a little. She pressed her fingers to her head lightly, feeling a sharp pain as she did so.

"Do you remember what happened?" Jace said softly into her neck, as he comfortingly smoothed back her hair.

Sarah frowned. "No, I—" Then she remembered, and sighed. "Yes… the Goblin King caught me in Carmella's old room."

"Milady, what in the Underground were you doing in there?" said Korrigan's voice irritably from behind her, and Sarah turned away from Jace to see him with his tiny hands on his hips.

"I didn't mean to go in there," Sarah said quietly, resting her head against Jace's chest to try and soothe away the urge to cry and the pounding headache that had begun. "I was just trying to understand Carmella better. He… he knocked me out, didn't he?" she added quietly, and Jace's grip on her tightened.

"Please, everybody, thank you so much," Sarah sighed, leaving Jace's warm embrace and starting to exit the infirmary. "I'm going to go visit my brother."

Despite Korrigan and Jace's overlapping protests Sarah left hurriedly, praying to God that she wouldn't run into Jareth in the corridors since at the moment if he saw her she'd probably get knocked unconscious a second time, and peered into the room with the Forgotten Children. All children except David and Toby were asleep, and the two children were currently fighting over a book.

"Mine!" insisted Toby, tugging it towards him irritably.

"You can't even read yet!" David argued, trying to pull it away. "It's my turn with the book!"

"Boys, stop fighting," Sarah said sharply, but in a hushed voice so as not to wake the other children.

Both David and Toby's faces lit up like Christmas lights, and they hurried over, tripping over one another in the process, and flung themselves into her arms.

"Mommy!" screeched David, but his cry was thankfully muffled by her dress.

"That's not mommy," pointed out Toby. "That's Sarah."

"She's mommy to me."

Toby thought it out for a minute. "Then you're my um… nephew."

Sarah smiled at that, even though she still felt like curling up into a ball and crying her heart out. "You know what, Tobes? I think you might be right."

"Tell Uncle Toby to give me the book!" David demanded immediately. "I had it first!"

"How about I read it to the both of you instead?" Sarah said, not wanting to start an argument.

David brightened, but Toby frowned. "Sarah, what's that?"

"What's what, Tobes?"

He pointed to her temple, where a violet and azure bruise was now blooming across her face. Sarah tried to shrug her hair in front of it, because Toby actually looked worried. "It's okay, Toby, it's just a bruise."

"Did mommy fall?" David asked.

"No, I didn't fall."

"Did mommy get hit?"

Sarah's response immediately got clogged in her throat. Toby's lower lip trembled and he burst out crying immediately.

"What's the matter Toby?" Sarah said frantically, trying to calm him down before the rest of the group woke.

"Sarah… got hit…" Toby wailed between racking sobs. "Was it… Goblin King…?"

Sarah blinked at him. How the hell had he guessed?

* * *

Sarah hadn't returned for nearly twenty-six hours now, and Jareth was starting to both get worried and hate himself. Now he was slumped over in one of the armchairs at five am next to the fireplace, watching the flames dance and waiting for Sarah to return. For the last long, gruelling hours Jareth had drowned in his own guilt as he forced himself to carry out his duties to the Kingdom. For the love of Satan, he had _knocked his wife unconscious._ Jareth had done some awful things to her in the past out of anger: struck her face, whipped her… but he'd never been so angry as to literally knock her out. He'd just been shocked (among other emotions) that he'd actually found her in Carmella's _room_, a place he'd left utterly untouched since her death. He hadn't even gone there himself in eighteen years, and he wouldn't have were it not for the door to her hallway being flung wide open.

Jareth sighed and buried his face in his hands. He prayed he hadn't made her hate him: they had been doing so well lately, both of them being affected in good ways by Jareth's temporary loss of memory. The last thing he wanted to do was make her look at him with that completely _damnable _blank expression she always wore when he did something wrong, and for the Underground's sake if she called him 'Goblin King' he was pretty sure he'd explode.

Jareth rose from the chair, worried sick out of his mind, intent on searching the entire Underground for her. She wasn't in the infirmary, though Jace was still. He'd been apparently staying there ever since Jareth's punishment last week. She wasn't with the Forgotten Children, even though Toby was crying in his bed. By dawn Jareth still hadn't found her, and had searched the entire castle. Then he froze. No, he _hadn't _searched the entire castle. There was still one place he hadn't yet looked, and by God he really didn't want to go back in there after what happened but if he found Sarah…

Jareth took a deep breath, climbed down two sets of golden spiral stairs, walked down the hall where Carmella's painting was and peered through the crack in the ajar azure door. Sarah was in fact in there again, and this time she held one of Jareth's crystal balls in her hand. Jareth noticed that she had taken down all of the dead roses that had been there earlier.

"I wish…" she said quietly, before faltering. "I wish for blue roses."

At once blue roses seemed to bloom out of thin air, taking the places of the original roses almost perfectly. Sarah blinked at it blankly and Jareth cringed; yes, she was doing the blank expression thing again. He hesitantly entered the room and whispered, "Sarah?"

She kept her back to him, her eyes focused on the roses she'd just created. Then she spoke, "Her favourite colour. It was blue, wasn't it?"

Jareth swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yes."

There was silence between the two of them, in which Sarah's eyes skimmed to the floor and then travelled to him. "You never once hit Carmella, have you?"

The two of them stared at each other, Jareth's mouth hanging open and his mismatched eyes wide with shock. Sarah sighed and brushed past him. "I didn't think so."

Jareth turned slowly and watched her go, feeling as though she'd just plunged her hand into his chest and ripped out his heart. But she had been completely right: never once had he lost his temper and struck his precious Carmella, but with Sarah it seemed to be a terrible habit. Jareth dropped to his knees, scanned the room with tear-blurred eyes and resisted the urge to scream.

* * *

Toby was still crying by the time Sarah got to the Forgotten Children's rooms.

"Sarah!" he wailed, when she walked in, and he held out his arms for her to pick him up. She did obediently and sat down on the bed, cuddling him to her chest lovingly.

"Shh, Toby, it's all right," Sarah said soothingly, smoothing back his blond locks and lying down with him. "Sarah's fine."

Toby gradually quietened, and soon he was asleep in her lap. Sarah lay next to Toby in the silent darkness, wishing there was someone to rock her to sleep as well. But that was it, she realized, she had _no one._ Sarah felt a tear slip down her cheek, then another, and after a minute she was sobbing quietly into Toby's pillow. Toby was too young to help her and Jareth was too abusive. The only people in the Underground who were supposed to be her family were incapable of comfort.

Toby rolled over immediately. "Why Sarah cry?"

"I'm sad, Toby," she whispered, trying to stifle her sobs now that Toby was awake.

"It's okay," said Toby, patting her head with one tiny hand. "Good baby."

Well, it was comfort enough.

**A/N: wrangled up this chapter in the hopes you'll forgive me for the last totally unacceptably late update :p oh yeah, please check out my profile: it's got the list of Sarah/Jareth fanfics-to-be! tell me what you guys think about 'em! :D special thanks to Magpie09 who's starting to like Jareth a little more (has your opinion changed in this chapter?), OMG for a kickass review,Marijka Bowles, Guest, HELL TO THE NO, what (who thinks Jace is hot XD), Anita118, Clarus Magnus as usual ;), Kyndsie, Sarah Rose 29, Jay D. Moore, Grey Kindle, MorganAndBurke, Glitter Poisoned My Blood, Senshi at Heart (btw i know that ur username means! :D), pansy25, MegaKat, AkatsukiAgent9, LightShadowSeeker (kickass name!), jackswoman, Taria Robotnik and The Queen of Water. JESUS a lotta people reviewed my last chapter! :D i thank you for your reviews, they're what keep me going! you're all wonderful, JTM! **


	16. The Breeding Ceremony

Chapter 16

The Breeding Ceremony

It'd been nearly a week since Sarah and Jareth's fight, and the two of them were more or less ignoring each other. Sarah spent most of her time with Jace, who seemed oddly happy about this fact, and rarely spoke to Jareth despite the fact she was forced to share a bed with the man. He tried to engage her a couple of times in the first few days, but more or less gave up after she simply answered with a flippant air and a blank expression. Now, the two of them were getting ready for the day in a bitter silence, Jareth pulling on his gloves and Sarah putting on her slippers.

A tapping sound at the window startled the two of them, and Sarah turned to see a beautiful snowy owl waiting on the window ledge with a lavender coloured envelope in its beak.

"Oh, so pretty," Sarah couldn't help but gasp, and she could have sworn she heard the slightest chuckle from Jareth as she eagerly approached the owl. She took the letter from the owl's mouth and beamed down at it as it leaned into her hand when she stroked the top of its head.

"Ah, I thought we would be getting that soon," said Jareth, taking the envelope from her and purposely stoking his finger over Sarah's.

"What is it?" Sarah asked blankly, but with the side of her mouth curled up as the owl nibbled her finger affectionately.

"It's the invitation to the monthly breeding ceremony," said Jareth uninterestedly, but Sarah started.

"What the hell is _that_?" she frowned, turning her attention away from the owl to frown at Jareth.

"Female Fae are well-known for their extreme infertility," Jareth began to explain, darkly remarking in his mind that he finally got an emotion out of her. "It's almost impossible for a female to get pregnant, so to make sure our race doesn't die out we pick the most fertile male and the most fertile female among the court and make them procreate."

"In front… in front of other _people_?" Sarah almost choked, her face going red from both embarrassment and fury.

"It's considered an honour if a child is procreated before the Fae Court," Jareth shrugged, as if it didn't even matter. "The child would also be considered nobility."

"That's barbaric," Sarah frowned, turning away from him to watch the owl fly away since it no longer had her attention. "Those poor people, being put on display like that like they're in a circus…"

"It is not barbaric, it's necessary," Jareth said firmly, as if that settled the matter. "We're going, no matter how 'barbaric' you think it is."

Sarah glared at him, which he pretended to ignore, and turned to stalk out of the room, but she spotted Jace waiting for her in the hall and her face broke into a smile. Jareth watched, dumbstruck at the first smile he'd seen her do in a week, as she hurried out of the room and eagerly hugged her best friend.

In truth, Jareth was missing his wife like hell. They had fucked in a _week_, for God's sake; a man with his libido could only take so much! She didn't speak to him of her own accord— he'd have to ask something or remark on something to get her to even utter a word. She was giving him that _fucking _blank tone and expression again that he hated so much, and worst of all she'd resorted to calling him 'Goblin King' again, despite knowing how much he despised her using his title instead of his name. He sat down on the bed as she flounced off with that damnable servant and sighed, ripping off his gloves again and throwing them across the room to try and alleviate his anger. When they slept together, she was huddled at one end of the bed and always shrugged off his attempts to cuddle with her. Jareth swore that the next time she called him 'Goblin King', he didn't care whether or not she was angry with him; he wanted very much to hit her and at the same time tackle her to the ground, to chase her down and tie her up and torture her body with the same agony he was feeling now. He would chain that sweet, cruel woman to a bed and lick every inch of her naked flesh until she was quivering with madness, screaming for him to thrust into her hot, willing body over and over again. He would—

Jareth shook his head vigorously, his thoughts starting to make him bothered below his waist, and sighed a second time. Hopefully, after the breeding ceremony, she'd come to her senses.

* * *

Sarah had declined Jareth's rather desperate invitation to transport with him to Queen Lavender and King Minos's castle, instead going with Jace. Lavender welcomed her warmly nearly the millisecond she transported, and shooed Jace away sternly, telling him to 'go get ready'. Before Sarah could ask what that meant, Lavender tugged on her arm out the main doors into a garden similar to the one back at Sarah and Jareth's castle.

"So, darling, how have you been?" said Queen Lavender, as they strolled through the garden's arm in arm.

"Fine," Sarah lied, bitterly thinking back to Jareth's little outburst about Carmella.

"Glad to hear it," Lavender said absently. "Well, I know there's been some trouble between you and my son… he's certainly got a big head, you know… but, if I may, I was wondering if you were trying for a child."

Sarah blanched and a hand automatically went up to her stomach, which was already carrying a barely-developed baby. "Well, the Goblin King never uses protection… so, yes, I suppose."

"Wonderful," said Lavender, grinning and sighing. "I can't wait for grandchildren, though I do hope they turn out a little nicer than Jareth."

Sarah couldn't help but sullenly agree with her, hoping to God that Jareth didn't influence their child to hit others that didn't agree with them. Unfortunately, she didn't quite have the heart to tell Lavender that she was already carrying a potential Jareth-imitator.

"Where is Jareth, by the way?" Lavender noted. "I noticed you arrived with that servant instead of him."

"Forgive me, but 'that servant' is my friend Jace," said Sarah almost coolly, and to cover up her slip of the tongue she added, "To be honest, we're in a fight at the moment."

"Ah, so all is not well," said the Queen, apparently leaving Sarah's retort unnoticed. "What happened?"

"I found Carmella's room, and he caught me in there and hit me," Sarah muttered, bringing her hand to her now blemish-free cheek.

Lavender frowned and bitterly kicked at an innocent dandelion with her violet slipper. "Damn it. How long ago?"

"About a week," Sarah confessed.

"And you only told me about it now? Gracious, daughter, I could have yelled at the boy for you!"

"I think that's taken care of," said Sarah, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. "I've been more or less giving him the cold shoulder since then."

"No less than what he deserves," agreed Lavender, patting her hand in a motherly sort of way. "I wish I'd known sooner, I wouldn't have placed your seat next to his. Isolation is exactly what that boy needs to learn his lesson. I remember when I caught him turning one of the courtiers into a snake, I didn't talk to him all day and he ended up running into my room crying and begging for forgiveness."

Sarah giggled, picturing a fully-grown Jareth running into her room wailing and flailing his arms about, begging for her forgiveness as well.

"Forgive me for asking, but why ever are you friends with that servant, Jason or whatever his name is?" Queen Lavender asked, and Sarah felt a stab of annoyance again. "I haven't exactly heard good things about him, personality-wise."

"His name is Jace," said Sarah flippantly, her eyes skimming toward the grass. "And he's wonderful and nice and I love him like the older brother I never had. Whoever started those rumours about him deserve to starve in an Oubliette," she added bitterly.

"You think very highly of him, then?" Queen Lavender said, smiling a little. "I bet Jareth has gotten jealous over that more than once."

Sarah laughed without humour. "More times than I can count."

"Well, we best be getting back to the castle," Lavender said, and they turned around. "The breeding ceremony is about to start."

Sarah frowned at the mention, but nevertheless followed Lavender up to the castle and into what looked rather like the Grand Hall back at her castle, but with twenty or thirty-something chairs placed in a circle. Sarah took the empty seat next to Jareth, ignoring his half-irritated half-depressed glance he gave her, and giggled as King Minos gave her a vigorous and ecstatic wave from across the room that nearly resulted in Lavender getting hit in the face. She once again ignored Jareth as he turned to her with his jaw dropped at the sound of her giggle, waved back and settled back in her seat, waiting for the animalistic ritual to begin. One of the doors to the room burst open, and a tall Fae with vivid dark blue hair emerged holding two struggling and completely naked Fae, one man and one female. Sarah couldn't see over King Minos's head at first, but gasped loudly when the two Fae were dropped into the middle of the circle and restrained.

The male was Jace, his once chestnut-coloured eyes completely black, his eyebrows drawn together in an angry expression as he furiously snarled and struggled against the Fae's grip, desperately trying to get to the naked female who was also struggling against her captor.

"Jace—" Sarah started to cry out, but Jareth put out an arm and quickly stopped her.

"Relax, precious, he's only drugged," Jareth whispered. "It's part of the ceremony— its effect will be lost once the ceremony is over."

Sarah sat back in her seat, her vision of Jace blurred by oncoming tears. How could those… _bastard _Fae take her Jace, drug him, strip him and then put him on display just so he could fuck a defenceless woman and get her pregnant?

"Release them," ordered someone on the Fae council, and the two Fae holding back Jace and the woman obediently let go. The two of them flew at each other like ravenous wolves, and Sarah closed her eyes immediately when tears began to flow. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, shaking with suppressed sobs as the sounds of snarling and slapping and screaming penetrated her ears. She felt Jareth's warm hand cover her shaking one, but she didn't even have the will power to shrug him off. Sarah jumped and a sob got out as she heard the female scream in pain, but despite her egging curiosity to know what the hell Jace was doing to that poor woman she kept her eyes firmly squeezed shut.

Despite it only being twenty minutes, it felt like all day to Sarah when the two Fae finally quietened down, except for the apparent crying of the woman. Sarah opened her eyes a crack to see Jace in the corner staring at Sarah with eyes wide and face holding a devastated expression, while the woman, who was covered in bruises and blood, was desperately crawling over to Jareth and outstretching her hand for assistance. Jareth cringed away in disgust, but Sarah dropped to her knees immediately and gathered the poor bleeding woman in her arms, letting her sob into her shoulder as she stroked back her hair and whispered comforting words into her ear.

"Take her to the infirmary," Sarah ordered to the blue-haired Fae, who hastened to obey her request, which left her the opportunity to hurriedly crawl over to Jace, hug his head to her chest and begin crying again. "My poor Jace, what did they do to you…?"

"P-princess…" Jace stammered, the drugs wearing off almost immediately, and despite the fact that he was naked his arms wrapped around her and pulled her close to his bare torso.

* * *

Sarah accompanied Jace and the woman to the infirmary, where the physician (who was Elfin, like Korrigan) gave them clothes, patched the woman and Jace up and gave them both Sleeping Draughts that had them knocked out immediately. Sarah was propped up on one of the beds with Jace sleeping in her lap, her finger absently brushing back Jace's caramel-coloured bangs, when the door to the infirmary banged open and Jareth stormed through looking strained.

"Goblin King—?" Sarah began, but Jareth fumed, "Don't you 'Goblin King' me!" and grabbed her hand, yanking her off the bed and causing Jace to roll off of her lap.

"What are you doing?" Sarah cried, as Jareth began hastily dragging her down the hall.

Jareth didn't answer, merely continued dragging her to his destination. He stopped at an oak door, kicked it open and pulled her into it. With a wild look in his eye he pushed her onto a king-sized guest bed and practically pounced on top of her, mouth crashing onto hers and hands ripping at her bodice.

"I nearly went insane this past week without you," Jareth growled into her mouth, her corset tearing in two under Jareth's ravenous grip. "My precious l0ve… my Sarah…"

Sarah shivered, both from the fact that his hands had just begun kneading her breasts and from the fact that his tone was smooth and desperate and loving all at once.

"Please say my name again," Jareth begged, leaning over and capturing one already hard nipple between his teeth.

"Jareth…" Sarah moaned, as he teased her nipple with his tongue.

"Oh Gods above, my darling, I need you," Jareth cried, gathering the skirts of her gown above her hips and thrusting his throbbing erection into her slick entrance.

Sarah moaned at the penetration, and despite the fact in the back of her mind she was still angry with him her hips couldn't help but meet his every thrust, and her legs wrapped around his hips to push him in deeper. Jareth made slow love to her as the sun began to set, and when they both climaxed they fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

Jace woke in the darkness, his body and mind still groggy from the effects of the Sleeping Draught. He rose to hear the breathing of a sleeping woman beside.

_Ah yes, that's right, _he remembered, _the breeding ceremony. _Then guilt flooded his insides as he remembered Sarah, her eyes shut, her body shaking and tears pouring down her cheeks while he mercilessly fucked a woman he didn't know right in front of her.

"Oh my God…" Jace whispered to himself. _What the hell have I done?_

He resisted the urge to scream, conjured up a knife and sliced open his arm from wrist to shoulder.

**A/N: Okay this chapter is kind of short :( im sorry, I'll try to do better in the next one! gonna start that whole answering to the reviewers thinger!**

**DisneyRBD: Thank you! :D was this soon enough :DD**

**Renee703: THANK YOU! :D**

**TheKinevilTwins: :D im assuming you liked it then? XD oh yeah by the way, awesome username :D**

**Guest: hehe 'awwww' indeed :3 **

**Magpie09: why thank you, that was the intended response! :D that means im doing my job right! Although to be honest, in the end you're probably love Jareth and hate Jace :/ not sayin any more ;)**

**Cherry-Anne Sponge: not quite, but what a fantastic idea! :D i'm going to jot that down for future references :D **

**Grey Kindle: YOU RULE! :DD indeed, dark jareth returns! :D thank you, le novel is being published as we speak, le me is just great, and yes me and my writing are both smashing ;)**

**Jay D. Moore: indeed, i agree :3 on both accounts: Jareth is a violent, horny bastard, but i love him too, and Jace is SMOKIN ;) **

**cea: I know right? :o im the writer and i hate it too, but you gotta have an angsty book! xo**

**Glitter Poisoned My Blood: very intense observation :o damn it, your username is SO COOL XD cant get over it!**

**Ree923: ;) i am indeed, with a giant-ass Grim Reaper scythe. **

**MorganAndBurke: lol why thank you *sweeps into a dramatic bow* i love doing the whole 'yeah theyre doing better then BAM Sarah gets smacked!' scenario ;) **

**01000000000100010000000: then i suppose you're going to be mad at me. because this is a Jareth/Sarah fic :o sorry! and thank you, lol dont worry i go on outbursts like that too XD **

**Guest: THANK YOU! :D**

**Princess Yuyi: That's the point, they'll get a lot farther in the sequel :o thanks for reading!**

** : PLEASE DONT i told people on my profile that if a prequel isnt done and you dont like spoilers, dont read! D: its not my fault, i didn't spoil it, and Jace technically IS a douche! Dx DONT LEAVE ME**

**LightShadowSeeker: DONT CRY, THERE THERE! DX ima sorry for making you cry :'( also, thank you, my faithful reader :3 hehe**

**JESUS you guys reviewed a lot! LOL**


	17. A Moon Bathed in Honey

Chapter 17

A Moon Bathed in Honey

Sarah hurried through the halls, her skirts gathered in her hands. It was just a little after dawn, way before Jareth would usually rise for the day, as was the intended time. It was all because of that _stupid _magic that made Sarah basically his bed slave, and she cringed at the thought of actually being his whore. She didn't care how many times he tried to drag her away and fuck her, she was still angry with him and he still needed to be taught a lesson despite that one little slip.

"Princess…" Jace's voice half-whispered half-cried out, and Sarah turned to see him standing at the other end of the hall, no longer bruised or carrying that animalistic look in his eye like he had at the breeding ceremony.

"Oh Jace, you're okay!" Sarah laughed happily, running over to him and throwing her arms around his neck. When she pulled away and noticed his expression of utter devastation, she knew immediately that her previous statement was untrue. She frowned, placed a hand on his cheek and said, "Jace, what's the matter?"

His lower lip practically trembling, Jace scooped her back into his embrace and hugged her like he'd never get the chance to again. "Princess, please forgive me!"

Sarah blinked. "Forgive you for what?"

"Forgive me for the way I acted at the breeding ceremony!" he almost wailed. "I frightened you, and I made you cry—"

"Jace," Sarah said.

"— and I hurt that woman, and I made her bleed—"

"Jace…"

"— and you were upset, and—"

Sarah grabbed both sides of his face with her hands and shouted, "Jace!" before he finally stopped his blubbering and quietened. "Jace, you were drugged. Why are you apologizing for that?"

"Because," Jace moaned, his head tilting into the soft of her palm. "I made you cry."

"No Jace, what the Fae did to you made me cry," Sarah corrected him, giving him a half smile. "Not you. You don't need to apologize."

"Forgive me," he insisted, taking off her hand from his cheek and squeezing it in his own hand.

"I forgive you, Jace," said Sarah, a slight frown on her face at Jace's insistence for atonement.

Relief seemed to crack through the mask of despair he'd worn only seconds before, and he practically melted before her and swept her up in his embrace again. Sarah could feel him grinning into her neck, and she grinned as well about the fact that she had her old Jace back.

Or perhaps not. She felt Jace draw back slowly, though his head stayed quite close to hers. She resisted jumping when he felt his lips brush against her cheek, panic pooling into her chest. What was Jace _doing_? Sarah shivered when one of his fingers brushed a stray lock of raven hair behind her ear, the sides of their noses touched and Jace's mouth barely brushing the corner of her lips, and Sarah tried not to tremble, wondering if Jace was going to kiss her…

Thankfully, he raised his head and kissed her forehead, his lips soft against her skin. "Thank you, Princess." He released her abruptly and hurried away, Sarah standing as still as a statue with shock radiating off of her. She slowly turned around but Jace had vanished already. Her heart was pounding a beat against her ribs, and she felt despair and guilt well up in her chest.

_Oh my God, Jace is falling in love with me…_

Gathering up her skirts again and trying not to cry or hyperventilate, Sarah attempted to turn the corner again but ran into someone.

"F-forgive me, Your Majesty!" stammered a dangerously quiet voice, and Sarah blinked the oncoming tears out of her eyes to see the girl from the breeding ceremony that Jace had practically mutilated. Sarah couldn't help but break into a smile— her bruises and cuts were completely gone.

"It's fine," she assured, momentarily forgetting Jace and helping the girl up. "And you don't need to call me by my title. My name is Sarah." The girl's pale cheeks flushed at the warm treatment, and she tried to drop into an unsteady curtsy but Sarah stopped her. "And you don't have to curtsy to me either. What's your name?"

"My name is Tillie," she mumbled. "Forgive me, I wasn't looking where I was going. I've been dizzy from pregnancy all day."

Sarah blinked. "Wait, you're pregnant? And you have symptoms this early?"

Tillie nodded, her hand moving toward her stomach instinctively. "Yes, the breeding ceremony was successful. Your Maj— Sarah, Fae women feel symptoms immediately when the egg is fertilized, and pregnancies last a mere two months."

"That's it?" Sarah gasped. "Human pregnancies take nine months!"

"That sounds dreadful," said Tillie, starting to open up more to Sarah. "I can barely stand with morning sickness and I've only been pregnant for a day— I'd never be able to last nine months."

"I have no choice," Sarah said bitterly before she could stop herself.

Tillie gasped. "You're pregnant as well?"

Sarah blanched immediately and said hastily, "I only meant that _if _I get pregnant, I'll have no choice but to go through nine months."

Tillie nodded, before ducking her head through the window immediately. Sarah frowned, wondering if she was trying to run away, but she heard the familiar sounds of vomiting, and so she quickly held back Tillie's hair and rubbed her back comfortingly like she'd seen her father do to Irene when she was pregnant with Toby.

"I'm sorry," Tillie choked, before she began dry heaving over the edge of the windowsill.

"Don't try to talk," Sarah soothed her.

Tillie dry heaved painfully for a few minutes, her body trembling, before she finally shuddered back into the hall and her knees gave way. Sarah frowned concernedly down at her— her face was a deathly pale white colour.

"F-forgive me…" Tillie stammered again, swallowing hard and keeping her head bowed. "Such a thing… in front of Your Majesty…"

"Sarah," Sarah corrected her, also sinking to her knees so that she was at eye-level with Tillie. "And don't apologize, it's not your fault. What have you eaten today?"

"I've been avoiding food, Your Maj— Sarah," Tillie said softly, placing a hand gently on her stomach. "At this point I'm actually afraid to feed myself for fear I'll simply throw it all back up."

"There's an old Aboveground trick to fighting morning sickness," Sarah said, smiling as she helped Tillie up. "They're called saltine crackers. They're supposed to work very well. Would you feel up to trying them?"

"I suppose…" Tillie said nervously, as Sarah slung the Fae's arm over her shoulder and helped her down the hall. "What exactly pray tell are these… saltine crackers?"

"They're… small, square pieces of baked bread," Sarah said, wondering if what she was saying was even correct. "And they have salt sprinkled on top of them. They're actually pretty good."

Tillie brightened momentarily, and Sarah positively beamed when Tillie smiled a little. "I'm craving salty bread, now that you mention it."

"Perfect timing," Sarah laughed, using her hip to push open the infirmary doors. Korrigan was leaning over a Goblin that was passed out on the floor, frowning deeply and poking it with his clipboard.

"Um… mind telling me what you're doing?" Sarah said confusedly, helping Tillie over to one of the beds.

"I'd like to ask _him _the very same question," Korrigan said crossly, still grimacing down at the unconscious Goblin that Sarah suddenly recognized as the Goblin who'd forgotten his name, 'Trout'. "I get up early to get the infirmary prepped for the day and I find this piece of dirt singing Christmas carols while trying to make snow angels in the bed sheets and occasionally talking about 'Something Green with Maple Syrup'."

Sarah giggled and bent over Trout, raising her eyebrows at her happy expression as he unknowingly drooled all over the floor. "He's probably drunk again, Korrigan. He's a Goblin, of course."

Korrigan gave Trout one last glare and a particularly whack over the nose with his clipboard and then turned his attention to Sarah. "Jareth didn't hit you again, did he Milady?"

Sarah flushed with embarrassment and prayed Tillie hadn't heard what Korrigan had said. "Actually, I think you remember her," Sarah stepped out of the way to reveal Tillie, "From the breeding ceremony."

"Ah yes," Korrigan said, his tone brightening slightly. "Your bruises seem to have healed up nicely. What is it that you need?"

Sarah grinned. "You don't by any chance know what saltines are…?"

* * *

Two hours later, Tillie, Sarah and even Korrigan were all sitting cross-legged and casually on one of the beds, empty saltine boxes and wrappers scattered across the floor, laughing like old friends. Trout had woken in the middle of their little 'cracker party', and was now bouncing around the infirmary using a saltine box like a pair of overalls.

"Clearly you're feeling better," Sarah grinned, looking over at Tillie who's round face was pink and crinkled with laughter as she nibbled on a saltine.

"Whoever invented saltines in the Aboveground should be crowned King of the Underground," Tillie replied happily. "I haven't had a wave of nausea since after my very first cracker!"

"It must react more strongly to the Fae than to humans," Korrigan added knowingly with his mouth full.

The door to the infirmary sudden crashed open with the sound as loud an earthquake; Sarah jumped in alarm, Tillie screamed and Korrigan rolled off the bed in shock and was hit in the face by a cascade of falling saltines. Sarah turned her head around, prepared to shout at whoever just did that, but she stopped her sentence before it could escape her throat.

Jareth was standing in the doorway, looking both panicky and thrilled at the same time. Sarah glared at him and demanded, "Mind telling me why you almost ripped the door off of its hinges?"

"No time to explain," Jareth gasped, his face oddly exuberant. "Just come."

When Sarah opened her mouth to angrily decline Jareth stormed into the infirmary and snatched her up from the bed, hurriedly leaving the infirmary.

"Let go," said Sarah angrily, trying to elbow him in the ribs, but her arm was pressed to his chest and his grip on her was so strong she wasn't able to move it.

"No way, precious," said Jareth, almost happily. "We're spending the rest of the day together."

Sarah frowned and said crossly, "Don't you have… I dunno, work to do at the Castle Beyond the Goblin City?"

"I took the day off," Jareth said excitedly, quickening his pace at his words. "We're going to have a proper honeymoon, since we never had one beforehand."

Sarah's mouth fell open in shock, wondering if Jareth was serious. She waited for a moment, expecting him to set her down and say, "April fools," or something along those lines, but he merely grinned down at her look of amazement.

"And just what exactly is going to happen in this… event you've planned?" Sarah asked, trying to contain her nervousness.

"Well, I figured first we'd _walk _through the gardens for a while," said Jareth maliciously, and Sarah was certain that they were definitely_ not _going to 'walk' at all.

"All right, but only if Toby can come too," Sarah said quickly, and he actually looked down at her with a whiny expression.

"Precious, this is supposed to be our _honeymoon_," he complained. "Children are not taken on such events."

"He hasn't been out of the castle once yet," Sarah persisted. "And you and I have barely spent any time with him at all."

Jareth scowled and pouted childishly. "Fine, we shall take the babe. But only for a little while."

Sarah smiled inwardly, relieved. "Now can you put me down?"

"No," said Jareth half-stonily half-amusedly, and Sarah glared up at him.

"And why the hell not?" she said irritably. "My legs work, you know."

"Oh you needn't worry, precious— I know how well your legs work," Jareth purred, his finger tracing a circle on the back of her knee, and he relished the way she shivered deliciously in his hold.

"You didn't answer my question," she mumbled, but her comment was drowned out by David's sudden screech of, "MOMMY!"

Jareth gasped out in alarm when David came zooming out of the Forgotten Children's room like a blond rocket and smacked into his leg.

"LEGGO OF SARAH!" shouted another voice, and this time Toby the second little blond rocket sprinted through the doorway, only this time instead of colliding with Jareth's leg he viciously kicked it.

Sarah repressed a laugh at Jareth angry exclamation of pain and wriggled out of his hold, crouching down next to Toby. "Toby Robert Williams, what did I say about kicking people?"

"It's not polite," said Toby obediently, before frowning. "But I don't like Goblin King 'cause he's not polite neither, so there!"

Sarah could basically feel Jareth's piercing glare on her back, but she ignored it and instead silently scolded Toby for being rude. "Now Toby, if you behave you can come on a walk with Jareth and me."

"Don't wanna," Toby pouted, crossing his arms. "Wanna go with Sarah only."

"Here's an idea," Jareth drawled irritably from behind her. "Why don't you stay here, little child, and Sarah and I shall go?"

And that's how an hour later the three of them were strolling through the sunlit gardens, Toby laughing and hanging onto her hand protectively. He pointed his finger at a passing multicoloured butterfly and screeched, "LOOK SARAH, IT'S A RAINBOW BUBBERFLY! "

"It's 'butterfly', Tobes," said Sarah, smiling a little at the remembrance of his earlier mispronunciation of the word 'Labyrinth'.

"Can I go see it?" he asked enthusiastically, and when Sarah nodded he let out a shriek of laughter, released her hand and took off to chase the butterfly.

"Finally," she heard Jareth growl from behind her, and his hand grabbed her waist, furiously twirled her around and crashed his lips onto hers.

"Mmph, Jareth—" Sarah protested crossly against his lips.

"Oh for fuck's sake, precious, I despise it when you're angry with me," Jareth snarled, yanking his mouth away from her and pulling her into an almost too tight embrace.

"Then don't hit me," Sarah snapped at him, escaping from his grip and glaring up at him. "That's why Toby hates you, you know. He saw the bruise last week and knew it was you."

Sarah watched stonily as Jareth opened his mouth and closed it repeatedly, frowning and looking like a fish. She crossed her arms and resisted the urge to tap her foot impatiently.

Then, with words practically drowned in sincerity and shame, he whispered, "Don't be angry anymore… I'll never lose my temper again… I shan't lay a hand on you in the future, I promise, Sarah-mine… I love you," he added desperately, and his voice sounded like he was on the verge of crying. "Please, my Sarah, please don't be angry with me anymore."

Sarah's irritation was immediately squashed and her mouth dropped open in shock. The Goblin King was _begging_, something he'd only done once before (and, Sarah remembered with a pang, she'd refused and ended up driving him insane).

"Y-you promise?" she stammered, her face growing hot and her eyes skimming to the grass.

"I swear on my crown and my powers," said Jareth pleadingly.

"I s-suppose I can forgive you…" Sarah mumbled, and immediately Jareth picked her up and twirled her around exuberantly.

"I love you, my precious wife, my Aboveground angel, my beautiful love!" he exclaimed contentedly, diving down to kiss her. Sarah hesitantly accepted his kiss, and when he happily laced his fingers into her hair she shivered again, wondering how such a small action could get her so bothered.

"Yuck," Sarah heard Toby say behind her, and she turned away from Jareth to see him standing behind them covered from toes to knees in mud and clutching a croaking frog in his hand.

"Toby!" Sarah said exasperatedly, taking the frog from him and setting it free. "What the hell did you do?"

"I caught the froggy," stated Toby, oblivious to the fact that he was being scolded.

"I think he actually took a stroll through the pond," suggested Jareth, frowning.

Toby promptly stuck his tongue out at Jareth and shot, "Did not! I fell into the puddle where I found the froggy."

"Damn it, Toby, you're dirtier than Wixiban, and he _lives _in the mud!" Sarah said irritably, trying to brush him off.

"Allow me, precious," said Jareth, and with a swish of his hand the mud vanished from Toby's legs.

"Toby, what do you say to Jareth for cleaning you up?" Sarah said, crouching down at eye level with him.

"Um… please?" Toby suggested, and Jareth actually chuckled.

"Not quite, Tobes," Sarah grinned, rumpling his hair. "Try again."

"You're welcome?" Jareth laughed again, and even Sarah giggled. Toby suddenly yawned hugely, before blinking up at Sarah and asking, "Can we go inside now?"

"Are you tired, Tobes?" said Sarah, and he nodded.

Jareth obediently flicked his wrist, and Toby vanished immediately. Sarah gasped in alarm and jumped back. "What the fuck—?"

"Indeed, precious," Jareth growled, before clamping his hand around her wrist and dragging her away from the pond towards the willow tree.

"Jareth, you can't just poof Toby away like that!" Sarah said furiously, as Jareth shoved aside the willow's drooping curtain. "You probably terrified him!"

"He'll live, dearest," Jareth said, his voice dark. "I, however, have been dying to ravish you."

Before Sarah could respond he pinned her to the trunk of the willow tree and captured her lips again, except this time the kiss was slow, passionate and loving. Sarah tilted her head back lazily— this was _amazing_. Not only was it strangely arousing but also it was slow and affectionate, his lips feeling as soft as silk against hers and his hand raising to gently cup her cheek. Sarah sighed against his mouth, thinking, _'This is how a kiss should always feel like'._ Jareth deepened the kiss slightly and pressed his body flush against her front, grinding his growing erection against her inner thigh and growling.

"You'll never know how beautiful you are," Jareth whispered, nipping a trail of kissing down her neck and on her ear. "You'll never know how much I love you, how much I want you, how much I _need _you…"

His words alone made Sarah sigh with contentment, but his kisses were what made her hands slip inside his poet's shirt and feel his skin and his muscles. She felt him shudder beneath her fingers and felt his erection harden even more against her. Standing on tiptoe Sarah leaned forward and kissed just below his ear, wondering what he'd do. He groaned with approval, his hips uncontrollably bucking against her, and his hand left her cheek and slowly unzipped her dress. It immediately became loose and tumbled below her shoulders, and Sarah shivered as Jareth kissed her newly exposed skin.

"Ask me, my darling," Jareth breathed, as the two of them began tearing off each other's clothes with quickening desperation.

"Ask… what…?" Sarah managed to get out as Jareth ripped her corset off of her and slipped his hands underneath her brassiere.

"What do you want me to do, Sarah-mine?" Jareth murmured, sweetly and gently ravishing her breasts and rolling her hard nipples with his palms. "Tell me what you want."

"_Jareth_…" Sarah whimpered when he allowed her gown to pool at her feet and his shirt to join it.

"What is it?" he purred, lowering her to the ground and straddling her waist while slipping off his tight leather pants.

She squeezed her eyes shut almost embarrassedly before whispering, "Make love to me, Jareth."

He eased himself into her with agonizing slowness, and their moans twined together in unison. She was so tight around him, and as he sheathed himself completely he almost climaxed right there and then. Jareth stilled, looking down at Sarah's flushed cheeks and her lips parted slightly, brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"I've always fantasized of making love to you beside this tree," he whispered, his voice tight and raw, and Sarah whimpered again, silently pleading for him to move. Jareth waited until he couldn't any longer, until he absolutely _had _to move, and then he pulled out slowly and thrust in again. Sarah wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him closer, and the two of them sang a melody of pleasure together.

"_Jareth_…" Sarah breathed into his ear as she laced her fingers through his mane of tawny hair, and Jareth let out a shuddering groan at the sound of his name.

"Sarah… my Sarah…" he murmured, thrusting into her at a different angle and shivering when Sarah's hips instinctively rose to meet his thrusts. Jareth could feel his climax coming on, but no— he wanted Sarah to come before he did, so that he could watch her squirm and perhaps scream his name. Reluctantly but determinedly he forced himself to pull out from her warm channel, shivering at the cold air that swept over his erection that was still coated in her arousal. Jareth forcefully grabbed the underside of her knees, slipped them over his shoulders and buried his face between her thighs. He pressed his mouth to her fully and began to lave his tongue all over her, between every fold, up and down her slit, into her opening, and finally on the tiny nub that was her nerve centre. She struggled and quivered and every inch of her erupted in goose flesh, and Jareth nearly came himself when she screamed with ecstasy. Jareth heard a distinct whimper of delight when he closed his mouth on her clit and sucked hard, growling with triumph and approval when Sarah screamed a second time, and he bit down harshly on her clit that made her soar over the edge and soundlessly crash with the most intense orgasm she'd ever had in her life.

With another growl Jareth plunged himself back into her, pounding mercilessly, letting her ride out her orgasm for as long as possible as he came precariously close to his own.

"Ja… reth…" Sarah managed to choke out, and at the sound Jareth came gloriously, body clenching, head thrown back and heart melting.

He collapsed partly on top of her, panting harder than he ever had in his long lifetime, and with one swift motion of his arm he possessively tugged Sarah towards him and wrapped his body around hers like a protective, warm blanket. Sarah suddenly giggled, and he turned his head to her with one eyebrow raised. "Something amuses you, my angel?"

"You have a willow leaf in your hair," she pointed out, grinning and reaching over to pick it out. Jareth couldn't help but laugh as well, for she had more than one leaf in her own hair.

"Though rolling around in the grass is _quite _an enjoyable activity," Jareth purred, relishing the blush that swept over her cheeks. "I daresay we are rather filthy. Shall we bathe then, dearest?"

"Why do I have the feeling it isn't a request?" Sarah said, both to avoid saying no, for that would surely upset him, and saying yes, which would wound her pride.

"Because it isn't," said Jareth with a grin, and he hopped to his feet in seconds, scooped Sarah up into a princess hold and waved his hand idly. Sarah watched as the garden scenery melted into their bathroom with the endless mirrors, and couldn't help but smirk when she noticed that the bathtub was obviously already filled with steaming water.

"This bathtub should be crowned King of the Underground," said Jareth happily as he stepped into it and snuggled into the water with Sarah pressed to his chest like a precious teddy bear.

"Funny, someone said the same thing to me earlier," Sarah laughed. "Except not about bathtubs."

"Better not have been about bathtubs," Jareth growled jealously, squeezing her tightly and protectively. "The only bathtub that should be crowned King of the Underground is this won, and only I should be in it with you."

Sarah couldn't help but laugh at his sudden silly possessiveness, before Jareth whirled her around and pinned her to the side of the tub, slipping his once-again erect length into her entrance with a contented groan.

Jareth made slow, beautiful love to her in the bathtub, putting her pleasure before his own and allowing her to come no less than six times before allowing himself to climax, and then he made love to her a third time in their bed until the sun disappeared…

And Sarah realized later that night when Jareth had her trapped in his tight hold, when he was asleep and she was just about to drift off, that she had done the one thing she'd tried so hard not to do. She'd fallen in love with Jareth.

**A/N: okay, okay, I KNOW I SUCK! DX it's been FAR TOO LONG since i last updated and i can assure you that you have my express permission to burn me at the stake! It's just *sniffle* im getting my book published... and *sniffle sniffle* my publisher said that i should hurry up and write the sequel... so i haven't had much time to *sob* work on SWD or AOTD D'X ima sorry! i shall try harder in the future *O* okay, ahem, time for the special thanks to the reviews that nobody remembers writing XD**

**Glitter Poisoned My Blood: hows THAT for their relationship not progressing?! :D mwa haha! and um. it's a secret :3  
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**Kaytori: the Fae are an animalistic race :| and she wasn't um CONSCIOUSLY willing, they drugged her, remember?  
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**Grey Kindle: hehe why thank you *sweeps into a bow* i say, is there a draft in here? ;D LMAO  
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**The Queen of Water: thank you for waiting and reviewing :3  
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**Sarah Rose 29: She never lost the child :/ did i write that? hmm time to begin a Sherlock Holmes investigation (gonna have too much fun with that... :D)  
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**MegaKat: ehm, ima sorry :( the breeding ceremony among Fae isn't exactly um 'sexy'  
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**BuffyMyraRae: thank you! LOL maybe... maybe i'll make a lil side story, like a what-if-Sarah-&-Jace-were-the-ones-who-end-up-in-love fic :D hey, there's an idea!  
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**Ashling13: I do hope you dont think that way in real life! D: i do too sometimes, but let me assure you i refuse to let the children take the places of main characters :O  
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**jackswoman: thank you, as always ;)  
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**pinkdiamondlight: i didn't know 'welp' was a word :D neat! yeah... well um... did this chapter change your mind? :D  
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**Ryanne 187: indeed! :O  
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**kaybeezie: WOW thank you! :D neatneatneat! X3 Vampi is happy, thank you for such a wonderful review! fwa!  
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**starshortcake: thank you! :D i love your name; it reminds me of pastry |:3  
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**Esmerelda Wolfsbane: why thank you :DD i ADORE your user name, so gothic! X3 Vampi luvs goth! lmaoo i can just imagine Didymus getting totally PWNED by a frog XD  
**

**Alice: thank you! :D  
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**Guest: yeah, i get that a lot ^^' hehe... it will, don't worry, and this story is just the first :o the ending is... um... gonna make a lotta people hate me ._. but the sequel will hopefully stop the angry mob! :D  
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**onecelestialbeing: well, im not sure about awesomeness... :*3 hehe... hey, your username sounds familiar... dyou by any chance write M rated Once Upon a Time fics, or Alice in Wonderland 2010?  
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**ParaU2fan13: thank youuuuz! :D  
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**Jackie Finch: eh, no life? :o you have a life as long as you can type up lil reviews :DDD AND THANK YOU OMG I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL! XO if you want another Sarah/Jareth M rated fanfic that'll have your soul shriveling with despair, try chemical-love 's 'Just as I Can Be So Cruel' SO FUCKING AWESOME!  
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**soulwritr16: he loves her, definitely loves her :O thank you also :3 hehe  
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**QuickeningPulse: thank you :D she hasn't found out... yet ;D  
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**TheKinevilTwins: you seem to be one of the rare ones that doesn't want Sarah to miscarry :/ yay! :D  
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**FOUNDinLOVEx3: um... okay? :D thank you!  
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**MAJOR FUCKING-ASS LABYRINTH THANKS TO fantasymyownworldofhearts, because a) what a fabulous HUGE review that the lil birdie Wixiban ate earlier sent me! and b) they guilted me into typing up this chapter till my fingers hurt ^^' hehe  
**


	18. Tears of a Goblin King

Chapter 18

Tears of a Goblin King

"Your Majesty!" gasped Tillie through a mouthful of saltines when Sarah entered the infirmary.

Korrigan immediately stumbled out of his office and said, "Where did he hit you this—?"

"Relax Korrigan, I'm only here to check on Tillie," Sarah said, with a smile Korrigan had never seen before. It was far too happy, too unlike Sarah in this predicament.

_Pregnancy mood swings,_ he guessed, before contributing, "The only thing she'll eat is saltines. Gone through five boxes already just since last night."

"You've been up all night eating crackers?" Sarah giggled, making Tillie blush with embarrassment. "I'll chalk that up to the pregnancy."

"It's the only thing that I can keep down, besides water," Tillie replied with a shy grin.

"That I can vouch for," Korrigan said with a grimace, patting Tillie's knee in a comforting sort of way. "By the way Milady, if I'm not imposing, what did His Majesty drag you away to do yesterday?"

Sarah's face flamed immediately, her smile dropping off of her face. How was she supposed to respond to that? She couldn't exactly tell the castle physician in front of a pregnant servant that 'His Majesty' had dragged her off to have mind-blowing sex all day.

"Eh, well," Sarah began uncertainly. "Since he fell ill—" she avoided Tillie's eyes but kept her gaze firmly locked on Korrigan, who nodded in secretive understanding, "— he told me he didn't remember our, er, wedding, and then got kind of upset when he found out he got sick before we were able to have a honeymoon."

Korrigan smirked and Tillie beamed, while Sarah stood there blushing.

"What is His Majesty doing now?" Tillie asked.

Sarah shrugged dismissively. The only time in the past month and a half that Sarah had wanted to wake up next to her husband, she had found herself to be alone in their bed. She'd sat up and frowned disappointedly, and ran one hand over the indent in the mattress where Jareth had slept last night, and the coldness of the sheets had confirmed that Jareth had been gone for a while. At that moment Sarah had felt a mix of emotions: upset that after last night Jareth would just up and leave like she was just another whore.

"He's very busy, I presume," said Sarah idly, before stepping back. "Well, I just popped in to see how you were doing, Tillie."

Tillie smiled with thanks. "Where will you go now?"

_I won't go looking for Jareth… I won't go looking for Jareth… I won't go looking for Jareth… I won't go looking for Jareth…_

"I'm on my way to visit my friends Hoggle and Tami in the Dwarf Kingdom," said Sarah, who in fact hadn't been on her way there but decided she would visit anyway. "They have two new little babies."

"One Milady helped deliver," said Korrigan proudly, and Sarah smiled gratefully.

"Goodbye then," said Sarah, waving to them as they both bid her goodbye as well.

As she walked past the servant's quarters she began to wonder where Jace was, and half-expected him to burst out of one of the doors as if on cue, as he so often did. Although, Sarah remembered with a sinking feeling, the last time she'd seen him hadn't been a happy occasion— he'd practically begun to cry on her about his conduct at the Breeding Ceremony. And then…

Sarah stopped walking and sighed, her expression melancholic now. And then she'd gotten the powerful, immense suspicion that Jace was in love with her… he'd almost _kissed _her, hadn't he? Well, she though hopefully, she could just be seeing things. Maybe she was wrong; maybe that was just Jace's way of thanks. Sarah had noticed a tendency of affection between the Fae during emotional times. Brightening, Sarah continued along, slowing her steps in the hopes that Jace would in fact do that creepy thing where he popped up just as she was thinking about him, but each door stayed firmly shut. Frowning with disappointment, Sarah turned the corner and immediately smacked directly into Jace, and upon blinking up at him for a brief moment she began to laugh.

"How do you always do that?" she giggled, not even giving Jace a chance to burst out 'Princess!' as he always did and quite apparently wanted to do now.

Instead he raised one eyebrow. "Do what?"

"Pop up the second I start thinking about you," she grinned, and he followed her up the gold spiral steps with a rapt expression on his face. She'd been _thinking about him_…?

"What are you thinking about?" Sarah asked him, snapping him out of his reverie. He noticed her grin of amusement and figured he probably looked rather silly, being spaced out like that.

"What are _you _thinking about?" he challenged teasingly, for lack of anything better to say other than 'I was starting to dream about fucking you and running away with you.'

"Well what do _you _think I'm thinking about?" Sarah shot back with a smirk.

"It's a secret," Jace cooed, meaning for it to be seductive, but Sarah took it as just another jest.

"Well then, what I'm thinking is also a secret then," Sarah giggled, realizing they sounded like silly schoolchildren.

Jace paused for a brief moment simply to drink her in, not just with blatant stares like usual. Now he savoured the simple sound of her laughter, the knowledge that it had been _he _and not His Majesty who'd made the sound tumble from her lips, the familiar, inviting, utterly _delectable _strawberries-and-cream scent that drifted from her…

He took a moment to try and find one thing he didn't like about the princess, and after racking his brain to find even the slightest flaw in her he gave up. Everything about her was _perfect, _Jace realized. Even her tendency to put herself in danger to save others (including himself), which both troubled and worried him but also made him weep with adulation. Truly, she was the epitome of perfection.

"You're very distracted today," noted Sarah, once again shoving him back to Earth.

"I was just wondering where His Majesty was," lied Jace smoothly, since he really didn't give a fuck where his _High High Highness _was as long as it was nowhere near the two of them.

Sarah's face fell. "I'm not really sure. Probably in the Goblin Kingdom."

Jace frowned at the sudden shadow that darkened her expression. Hoping to see her smile return, he reached out with one hand and brushed aside a stray lock of hair that had escaped from her bun.

"Smile," he half-pleaded half-ordered, and Sarah immediately blushed and smiled sheepishly.

They reached Sarah and Jareth's room, and Jace waited at the door as Sarah entered and plucked a crystal ball out of the Helping Hand holder. She turned to Jace and raised her eyebrows. "Aren't you coming in?"

Strictly speaking Jace knew under different circumstances he should _never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever _enter the King and Queen's bedchambers, even if invited in, but Jace kicked the regulations he'd been taught in the arse and gleefully hurried to stand next to her.

"Where are we going, Princess?" said Jace, even though he didn't really care as long as they were alone.

"I was thinking of visiting Hoggle and Tami in the Rock Caller Kingdom," Sarah said idly, leaving Jace's disappointed frown unnoticed. "Would you like to come?"

"Yes," Jace said; he did wish to go with her, he just wished they didn't have to visit the petulant dwarf who complained of everything.

Any complaint was wiped from his mind when Sarah beamed at him, and she said happily, "I wish we were in the Rock Caller Kingdom next to Hoggle and Tami's house, right now!"

And they were there, beside the green forest, the petite stone well and the house with the roof made of straw. Tami was sitting in an outdoor, wooden rocking chair nursing baby Enric under a blanket, with Asha sucking on a bottle.

"Sarah!" she burst out excitedly, startling the babies. "Oh shit… Sarah, you've come to visit!"

"Hello Tami," beamed Sarah, as the babies quietened. "How are Asha and Enric?"

"Fussy," winked Tami. "Asha seems to like to chew on things, even though she doesn't have teeth. And I can't take my eyes off of Enric for a second without him scampering off somewhere."

"He can crawl already?" Sarah gaped, and Jace explained, "Dwarf babies begin to crawl after a mere two to four weeks after birth."

"Who're yeh talkin' to, m'lovely?" came Hoggle's grunting voice as he emerged with Ludo and Didymium (and Ambrosious) carrying several buckets full of what looked like mud. He dropped the buckets immediately, and his face cracked into a huge grin. "Sarah, yeh didn't tell me yeh were comin'!"

"It was kind of late notice," said Sarah, bending down to give Ambrosious a pet; the dog was wagging his tail so violently it was shaking his whole body.

"Milady!" cried Didymus ecstatically, waving his own bucket around excitedly and slopping mud over Ludo's feet. "Apologies, dear brother… Milady, thou hast come to join us in the valiant escapade of mud-fetching?"

"Speaking of which, why are you getting mud?" Sarah asked, giggling when Ludo grinned toothily at Jace and handed him a bucket of mud, who took it uncertainly.

"Need it to patch the roof; there was a bleedin' storm the other day," grunted Hoggle, frowning at Jace. "And what're yeh doin' here?"

"Hoggle!" gasped Sarah, affronted, but Jace straightened haughtily and glared down at the dwarf.

"If you two don't play nice, I'll have to separate you," said Tami airily, and everyone forgot their anger and laughed.

* * *

After a happy outdoor picnic, a game or two of hide-and-seek and a perfect ending to the afternoon (in which Didymus challenged a passing squirrel to "surrender or be vanquished, furry cur!") Sarah and Jace bade goodbye to Hoggle, Tami, Didymus and Ludo and transported back to the Fae Kingdom, arm in arm and laughing at the day's events.

"Of all places you chose to hide, why behind the skinniest tree in the forest?" Sarah laughed to Jace, who grinned.

"It worked, did it not?" Jace replied airily, though he was grinning. "I can't _believe _that the fox-knight who claims to have fantastic eyesight couldn't see the half of me sticking out from behind that tree."

As they made their way up to Sarah's chambers, her steps faltered, and she frowned.

Jace glanced at her. "Something the matter, princess?"

"It's night-time," Sarah said warily, her eyebrows furrowing. "Jareth should be back by now."

"Perhaps he is working late," Jace said lamely, not particularly interested in His Majesty's unexplained absence. "Would you like me to look for him?"

Sarah shook her head, pulling out the crystal ball she'd taken earlier. "No, I'll find him. Thank though, Jace." She granted him a winning smile that stunned him momentarily and said, "I wish I were at the Castle Beyond the Goblin City, right now."

The moment Sarah plopped into the horned throne she thought she had transported into the middle of an explosion in progress. In truth, it was Jareth hurling crystals at a group of terrified Goblins and shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Jareth!" Sarah gasped out, grabbing his arm before he could chuck another group of crystals at the Goblin posse.

He immediately relaxed at her touch and lowered his arm, though his eyes still glared at the Goblins. They blinked up at her with big googly eyes, and one of them was brave enough to mutter, "_Hi Queenie_."

"Hi," Sarah said absently, before stepping between the Goblins and their furious leader. "Mind explaining why you're hurling potentially fatal objects at your subjects?"

Jareth crossed his arms petulantly and stormed away from her like a child, kicking a chicken to relieve his anger. "The fucking idiots decided to invent a new holiday."

"'_Goblin Ale Make You Woozy Day'_," piped up Biggle, grinning.

Sarah grinned at them. "Jeez, I wonder how that went."

"They ended up pissing off the Junkpeople and the Rock Callers in the Forest," Jareth said bitterly, though less so now that his wife was smiling. "The two groups banded together and decided to start throwing rocks and garbage at the Castle."

With an irritated sigh Jareth brought a hand to his temple, and Sarah stepped forward worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, precious," Jareth said snappishly. "Headache."

Ignoring his attitude Sarah stepped forward and reached out with one hand to feel his forehead. "_Shit Jareth_! You have a goddamn fever!"

"It's _nothing,_" he growled, but Sarah stood her ground and glared back. "I shan't be back home until tomorrow morning, Sarah— I suggest you go back to the Fae Kingdom. I have no use for you at the moment."

His abrupt dismissal stabbed at her, but she ignored it and instead turned to the Goblins, who looked hopeful that she might play with them.

"What did you guys do?" Sarah said kindly, and they all hung their heads.

"_Make furry mountains and walking junkyards mad_," said Trout sadly.

"_They throw rocks and icky stuff," _added Biggle petulantly.

"Let's go and apologize, okay?" said Sarah, smirking at the look of confusion and astonishment on Jareth's face.

The group of Goblins nodded enthusiastically and frog marched out the door, holding already filthy rags dipped in what looked to be axel grease. Sarah brushed past Jareth, who looked as though he regretted his earlier words.

_No use, huh? _Sarah frowned, crossing her arms and watching as Biggle happily began hurling mouldy fruit at the other Goblins.

* * *

With the addition of the Mouldy Fruit War, it took an extra half hour for Sarah and the Goblins to clean up the Castle ground. She half-wished it had taken longer so she wouldn't have to face His-Royal-Bitchiness, even though it was dark and the night chill was starting to creep up on them. Once or twice while helping to clean off the slimy remains of a rotten apricot from the walls Sarah spotted Jareth spying on her through the window, and she wasn't sure if she should laugh or not.

The Goblins waddled crocodile-fashion back up to the Castle, holding hands with each other so as not to get lost. Sarah hoped Jareth was in a better mood as she held hands with Leafy, whose hand was sticky with an unknown substance that Sarah hoped would _stay _unknown.

When Sarah reached the throne room and gratefully let go of Leafy's hand so he could chase a chicken, Sarah scanned the hall for Jareth, who was nowhere to be seen. She flinched when she heard a terrible retching noise coming from the bathroom, and she sprinted into the room to see Jareth bent over the chamber pot, his face pale white. She gasped out in alarm and hurried over to his side, brushing back his hair and rubbing his back like she'd once seen her father do with her mother when they'd all gotten the flu.

"You overworked yourself today," Sarah murmured, feeling his warm skin and frowning at it.

"That much is clear," Jareth said, still snappishly.

Sarah frowned at his treatment of her but couldn't be angry with him for long. He was white as a sheet and sickly-looking, and it painfully reminded her of him huddled in the corner of a graffiti-covered, windowless room, dressed in rags and thin as a stick. So instead she shook the image out of her mind and continued to gently stroke his back and absently brush through his hair. Jareth was shivering violently despite the warmth of Sarah's caresses, and eventually Sarah felt him slump back onto her.

"Jareth?" she said in alarm.

His eyes were closed but he groaned in reply, so he wasn't unconscious. With a hefty tug Sarah pulled him into her lap and rubbed his arms frantically, trying to warm him up. She looked down at him in shock when she felt his shoulders begin to shake, not from his fever.

Jareth was crying into her lap, fists clenching on the fabric of her gown in a child-like fashion.

"_Why_?" he whimpered into her lap. "_Why did my Carmella have to die?!" _

Sarah's expression faded from shock to devastation to no expression whatsoever. She stared down at him blankly as he faded out of consciousness, curled up in her lap.

**A/N: I know loves, this is long overdue, and I really am sorry :( I missed Jareth and Jace and all them sexies too ;) but before you yell at me hear me out: I haven't written in ages because I'm now living in a group home in Montreal (which is like AGES from where I live) and they don't let you on the computer for longer than an hour per day -_- i used to be on the comp at least four hours a day! IM DYING OVER HERE!  
well anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm already halfway through the next :3 hehe.  
PS but seriously, if I don't update in forever its not because I'm lazy, it's because my primary at the group home is being a bitch as usual -_-**


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